We Preach Christ Crucified...

Hi friends,

'For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.' 

1 Corinthians 1:22-25

Paul is really clear about what his message is: it is to preach Christ crucified. He didn't compromise this message, he didn't water it down, take away from it or add to it. He stuck to the simple truth, despite being misunderstood and ridiculed. He knew that even though this truth was a stumbling block to some and folly to others, Christ was both the power and wisdom of God, and his crucifixion is central to the expression of God's power and wisdom.

When I reflect on this scripture it makes me wonder about how we proclaim the message of Christ. Do we water it down? Do we compromise on truth? Do we avoid speaking certain truths because we are worried about what people will think or how they will respond? It is all too easy for the message of the Gospel to be diluted or polluted, and Paul was very aware of this. He shows us how to proclaim the simple Gospel message. Let's join him in preaching Christ crucified.

This was a pretty simple page to put together with a couple of stencils and some acrylic paint. I stamped the cross from Rustic Easter onto watercolour card and coloured with watercolours then cut it out and glued it over the stencilled background. The text is a combination of Skinny Lowercase Alpha, His Name and Teeny Alpha.

May God help us to preach Christ crucified in whatever way he gives us opportunity.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Is Anyone Worthy?

Lord, you know that this is not what I planned to blog about this week. But after Revelation 5 was read at the beginning of our church service Sunday, I could not get this old post of mine out of my head. Father, I can only assume that someone who is reading this today is supposed to hear these words. Lord, use what I say to speak into someone’s heart. Let me accurately portray your Word in a way that will penetrate their mind and heart and cause them to draw closer to you. Jesus, you alone are worthy to be praised. Let these truths below cause us to praise You! 

Have you ever heard the Andrew Peterson song “Is He Worthy?” Many of you have probably heard the Chris Tomlin version on the radio, so if you haven’t listened to Peterson’s version, I encourage you do to so before we go any further. 

Something about this song gets me every time. I mean, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. As many times as I have heard it and sang it with our church choir, it still brings tears to my eyes. So what’s the big deal, you ask? Well, have you thought about the words to this song? “Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole? Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll? The Lion of Judah, who conquered the grave. He is David’s root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slaved. Is He worthy? Is He worthy of all blessing and honor and glory? Is He worthy of this? He is!”  Did you know that the words to this song are almost verbatim from Revelation 5? Check it out:

The Scroll and the Lamb

5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, ⁴ and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵ And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,
¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Holy wow! This is powerful stuff, friends. We’re not talking about the Lamb’s Book of Life here – you know, where your name is written if you’ve accepted Christ. We’re talking about the scroll. Two entirely different documents. The scroll. It’s sealed with seven seals and the contents is a mystery. Commentaries suggest that it’s possible it contains God’s purposes for history, but it being sealed prevents the full disclosure of what’s inside. We do know, however, that it is considered complete. The fact that it was written on “within and on the back” (representing completion) and sealed with 7 seals (representing perfection) tells us that whatever the document contains, it’s perfect. And it’s complete. So, the destiny of mankind, of the world; the eternal plans that have been in place since the beginning of time for us, that’s what we’re talking about. If you keep reading the next few chapters in Revelation, maybe opening the seals is the beginning of the old earth being destroyed and the new earth coming? I don’t know. But either way, we are talking about the plans in place for all of eternity. 

And John, here in Chapter 5, begins to weep because no one is found worthy to open the scroll. It’s not who is strong/mighty enough – it says that the angel that initially asked who was worthy to open it was “mighty,” so it’s a question of worthiness. But, what is worthiness? The Oxford Dictionary defines “worthy” as “good enough, suitable. Something or someone that is deserving of attention or respect.” Merriam Webster says that “worthy” is “having sufficient worth or importance” A pretty obvious definition, right? So, NO ONE was found to be worthy. No one. In ALL of heaven, for ALL time. NO ONE.  Do we have any hope? What kind of eternity is laid out for us? Those are probably the questions that John has at this point. And then he looks up to see “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.” THE Lamb. The One who was slain as the final atonement sacrifice (see Leviticus 16). The One who came to break the Old Testament law and establish a new covenant (Hebrews 8-10). The One who died as a ransom for those of us enslaved by sin. And sure, His sacrifice alone makes Him worthy, but the fact that He conquered the grave…. that, hands down, makes Him the only One who is.  He overcame death and became the bridge between the eternal separation we would have from God had it not been for Him. He overcame death, y’all…. that’s pretty final, so that we – me and you – could have eternal LIFE, not eternal death. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). And more so, He did it all willingly! He left heaven to come to earth knowing that this was His future. Did He deserve it? Absolutely not. But I did. And every day I still do. But, praise God, that He is not just the slain Lamb, but He is the RISEN Lamb! He is so worthy to take that scroll, our eternal future, and reveal its glory to us. 

So, “Do you feel the world is broken? Do you feel the shadows deepen? …Do you wish that you could see it all made new?” Well, guess what? There’s hope. Because Jesus is worthy to open that scroll, those of us who have accepted His grace have a future that is secure in Him. We have a future that includes no more crying or pain or death because “the former things have all passed away” (Revelation 21:4). He paid the ultimate sacrifice for us and because of that, my friends, HE IS WORTHY! So when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus we will SING and SHOUT the victory! 

Y’all have a great weekend!

Jennifer

@lifeintherace

Crafty Details

I started this page with a watercolor background in rustic colors (the Prima Marketing Woodlands set was the perfect color palatte for this!). I then added some texture with Sweet n Sassy Texture Tiles 1 and TextureTiles 2 using Rusty Hinge and Gathered Twigs Distress Oxides. I then created a collage at the bottom of the page with scrap pieces of fabric, ribbon, burlap flowers and gears from my craft stash. The cross image from Rustic Easter was stamped onto cardstock and colored with my Prismacolor pencils. I then glued it to a miniature piece of sheet music for the song “Is He Worthy” and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Oxide. I then adhered everything to the page. The words “Is anyone worthy” were stamped with ColdCoffee Alpha in Vintage Photo distress oxide.  

You Are the Potter

Think of the details of your life. Do you think it's just a series of events happening to you or do you believe your life is part of a greater plan?

I think we can get some clarity and comfort from Isaiah 64:8 on this question.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.    

We can be comforted by the first thing this verse tells us, "Yet you, Lord, are our Father". It doesn't just say, you are our Lord...it says he is our Father. Our Creator is not an uncaring deity. He is a loving and faithful Father. He wants us to trust Him with the details of our lives. The next part of the verse, "We are the clay; you are the potter. We are all the work of your hands" tells us that God is in control. He is the potter of our lives. He is molding and shaping, refining and sometimes, even breaking us and putting us back together, in an effort to make us more Christ-like.

My prayer through my journaling, is that I would always be malleable in the hands of the potter, allowing him to shape me in a way that brings Him glory.

Have Thine own way Lord
Have Thine own way
Thou art the potter I am the clay
Mold me and make me after Thy will
While I am waiting yielded and still  

(Lyrics from Have Thine Own Way Lord by Jim reeves)

 Page details:
A couple of weeks ago, I did a page using several people from the Brotherly Love and Girl Power stamp sets. I used my Brother Scan and Cut to cut out all the images and what I was left with resembled a stencil of people. I saved it for future projects.

I used my "stencil" this week with texture paste that I colored to resemble potter's clay. I laid out a piece of wax paper and used a plastic pallet knife to smooth the texture paste in a few of the images. I purposely left them imperfect, because afterall, that's what we are. After the texture paste dried, I was able to lift it off the wax paper. I don't usually gesso my page, but knew I wanted to smoosh distress oxides on the page and they tend to bleed through badly when used with a lot of water, so I did prep my page before starting. I did several layers of smooshing, using a variety of colors to create some muddy, clay splatter areas. I inked around my texture paste people with some black ink to help them stand out from my background and glued them to my page. I used the new Messy Stamped Alpha and Cold Coffee Alpha to stamp out my title. I actually stamped it twice, with a grey and brown ink and off set my stamping each time to create a shadow on the letters.

 Until next time, catch up with me on Instagram @simplyjillsjourney. xoxo,

Jill

The Lord Is My Shepherd

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely, goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23

Before becoming king, David was a shepherd. So he knew very well what sheep were like, and what the job of a shepherd was. He knew that we humans tends very much to be like sheep. And our great God is the ultimate Shepherd.

How are we like sheep?

• We tend to wander and get lost.
• We are basically helpless without God, even if we don't realize it. We are totally dependent on God.
• We can be hard to teach.
• We are easily frightened and confused.

Psalm 23 tells us that our Shepherd meets every need we have. He meets our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. When Jesus declared that He is the Good Shepherd, He was confirming that He is God. Sheep follow their shepherd's voice. We, too, must listen for and follow our Shepherd's voice. He knows exactly what we need. He was willing to die for us to save us. Because of Him, we can now dwell with Him forever!

Page details:

I used the following sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Psalm 23 Background & Succulents. Psalm 23 Background is a brand new stamp which is actually Korin's handwriting! I love that! I stamped the background stamp and drew a box around it with a Micron pen. I stamped the succulents and messy painted them with watercolor crayons, and added some splatters. A pretty simple page, but then most of my pages tend to be simple.

I hope you have a blessed week! Andrea

God's infinite power

Good morning! 

Here in Georgia it has been raining for what seems like 57 years! Praise the Lord we got some sunshine and not a single drop of rain yesterday! 

While it was raining though, and it seemed like we would never see the end of the rain, I was reminded about God's infinite power. Throughout the Bible we see the power of God moving and working in the lives of those that believe in Him. We see stories like Joshua, who listened to God, and the walls of Jericho fell. 

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down!

Y'all know I always have a song! 

We see the power of God in Genesis when Sarah and Abraham have a child in their 90's. 

We see the power of God in the book of Daniel when he is spared from the lions. 

Oh no, what we gonna do, the kind likes Daniel more than me and you. Oh no, what we gonna do, we gotta get him out of here!

There's a song for everything! 

The Bible tells us that even the winds and seas obey Him. (Matthew 8:27)

God has done and will continue to do some miraculous things and He wants to use us as a vessel for those things. 

We are told in Matthew 17:20 that if we have faith, even as small as a mustard seed, we can tell a mountain to move and God will make it happen. I don't know about you but that has always blown my mind! But it shouldn't be a surprise. Our Creator, Our Abba Father, He is so incredibly amazing. And you know what else is amazing? We get to spend our lives worshiping, praising, adoring, and learning more about Him. 

There are a few songs that I have recently listened to on repeat that talk about the power of God

There's nothing that our God can't do! There's not a mountain that He can't move! Oh praise the name that makes a way, there's nothing that our God can't do!

And another one...

We’ve seen what You can do, oh God of wonders Your power has no end

This page was inspired by that last song "God of Revival" by Brian and Jenn Johnson

How true, that God's power has no end. Taking a look at Genesis, and all that He created in the beginning, just those first two chapters are fill with so much of God's infinite power. 

Today, I encourage you to find a story that shows just how powerful God is and reflect on the power He has shown in your life!

Have a blessed weekend! 

I Will Dwell in the House of the Lord

Psalm 23:6

"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 23 is a very popular one. Even people that don't know the bible very well can probably recite a line or two from this particular psalm. God's timing can be so perfect can't it?! We released this gorgeous stamp just after my Grandma passed away. My grandma Joanne Bunch, (known to her grandkids as Nanny) went home to be with her Lord on February 18th. I created this page in memory of her and her love for the lord. 

Nanny was my mother's mom. She faced numerous strokes over the last decade, always refusing to give up or give in to them. My grandma was a fighter. But sadly, each stroke took a little more of her with each one she had. She slowly lost more of her memory and eventually had trouble eating and drinking. Before her strokes she was very active at her senior center and always taking educational classes to keep her brain strong. She would always write and tell me about the things she was doing to continue learning in her older age. So it's always bothered me that towards the end it was strokes completely out of her control that ended up ruining her mind. We don't always understand why things happen the way they do, but it's not for us to understand while we are here on earth.

My grandma was very strong in her faith! She had no doubt in her mind that she would one day go to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus. At her funeral I heard stories about when she was younger with her own young kids at home. On Sundays she would gather all 4 of her children in the car, and still pick up other neighborhood kids to make sure they would hear the word of God too!

I showed this memory page to my mom for her approval before sharing it will you all. She smiled at the photo of her mom as a young girl maybe 6 years old. She then told me that the verse I underlined.... "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" was one of her favorite lines in one of her favorite hymns! I didn't know that and it made me feel even better about this page I created.

I have no doubt in my mind, that Nanny is looking and smiling down on all of her family and friends.  She is happy, in no pain at all, remembers all of us, and is enjoying eternity with her savior! This is my last photo with her before she started losing her memory. This was in 2012 when I spent the weekend with her visiting local mountain craft fairs and enjoying gourmet cupcakes. I love you Nanny! Thank you for being such a great example of a God fearing woman for us all! We love you!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

@faith.and.creativity

Psalm 23

Typewriter Blocks Alpha 

Faith Wordfetti

Amen and Amen!

Find "Amen" by For King & Country here.

I "stumbled" upon a song by my most favorite of all time bands for Christian Pop.  In this song, they speak of a "death to life" experience which entails the newness of creation under the work and person of Jesus Christ.  

I love this song for so many reasons, not the least of which is the visual artistry that captures the mind in this beautiful transformation - from dead to alive; from dark to light; from dead and dry bones to an awakened heart, mind and soul!  I have the link above and lyrics below for you to listen at your pleasure.  :D

In this song there are particular lyrics which allude to several key passages of scripture.  Though the song was written to describe Luke Smallbone's experience of baptism, there are elements of the NEW creature sung as tribute to God for His kindness, His power, His overwhelming grace, and His love.  After the Lord changes you from being dead in your sins to living in with the new heart of His Son, we show our allegiance, our gratitude and our testimony of who He is and what He has done by a public confession of baptism. 

In the video of the song, there is a scene that involves the bones of a creature.  What creature, we don't know, but it's symbolic.  Dryness.  Desperation.  Death.  Decay.  Darkness.  There's a similar account of a valley of dry bones given in scripture.  The prophet, Ezekiel, is given a vision by the Lord to better understand what He will be doing in the lives of people that they would live for Him, heart and soul.  This "doing" will be a total renewal - a permanent transformation - of something that once had no life, and nothing of its own to be able to live, breath and have being.  The imagery of deadness is us in our sin.  Us in our depravity.  Us in our fallen state and in need of rescue, renewal, restoration, revitalization!  

Ezekiel 37 - in my opinion -  is the best inspired scripture for helping us understand this concept.  This is why I chose to journal here - it's so vivid and hard to ignore!

Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
 

Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.  And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.
(vv. 4-6, 12-14)

(vv. 

What's the point of God's message to and working through Ezekiel?
There's a huge change that will be taking place in the lives of those whose God is Yahweh.  Yahweh, Himself, speaks of a glorious restorative power that will rest on - rattle, even! - His people, to renew and strengthen them, and bring them life to prevail against the enemy as His personal warriors!  WOW!


"God gave Ezekiel an unthinkable directive.  God told him to prophesy to the bones so that the bones would come to life.  It is one thing for God to bring the dead to life; it is quite another thing for God to involve mere mortals in the process.  Ezekiel began to speak to the bones, and God worked through Ezekiel's words:  the bones started to come back together…Ezekiel marveled as a resurrection took place."  (The Jesus Bible, p. 1329)
 

If you are in Christ, did you know that you're part of God's personal army? 
Did you know that scripture tells us that as we are a part of the army of the Lord, when we fight against our enemy - when we attack the lies, deception, darkness, confusion with truth, love, grace and purity - the enemy cannot withstand?  Cannot prevail?  This is huge, and the undertaking is led by our Warrior King!
King Jesus!
God's gracious moves toward us cause an encounter - a collision - wherein righteousness covers iniquity and light covers darkness.  The holy union of a Holy God to our unholy selves is remarkable, but God does such things because of His grace, even amid His holiness.

"God's Word has incredible effects; it brings the dead to life.  As God's Word is proclaimed, the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to revitalize the people of God.  Jesus told his followers that their only hope was to depend on Him in every way (John 15:5).  God's Word always does what it intends: "So is my Word that goes our from my mouth: it will not return empty to me, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).  God's Word can bring light into darkness and life into dead places.  People are encouraged to read and listen to the Word of God." (The Jesus Bible, p. 1329)
And why not?!  If we read it, it will have an awakening effect that we cannot understand until we read.  Even then, the power of transformation will be so deep into our soul that we may not get a glimpse of the changes that are taking place.  Change is hard to track.  It's difficult to measure. 
My home pastor encouraged us as a congregation to track our change not by the hour, the day, or even the week; rather, to track it by the year.  Who were we last year?  What changes have we seen in our inner man since last year.  Those with open Bibles should be changed to a visible degree.  That's awesome!  It's encouraging, and I too encourage us all to consider looking into our Bibles, reading, studying, meditating, thanking God daily, praying, that we as "new creations" would continue to live as Christ!
The rehearsing of the gospel daily in our lives, our roles and our situations brings on revival that the Lord meant for His people.  In this, we live victoriously as His light in the world.  In this, we are able to testify of the goodness of God, and the glory yet to come!
The world needs truth!
The world needs life!
The world needs Jesus!
We were given a unique position in Christ.  This position bids us to proclaim the good news to those around us, to speak life into the deadness, and truth into the lies!  Ezekiel did it.  We can too!
I slipped a stamp in here as well that speaks of resulting outcomes from a life changed by the Word of the Lord:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I am a new creation in Jesus!
I have been changed by His word, and continue to be changed by His Word!
I am part of the army of King Jesus!
I can live victoriously in His life and grace!
I will proclaim truth and testify of His love!
And all the people said, "Amen and amen!"

Much love,
Deeds

@mercies_journaled on IG

Please shop for "Messy Stamped Alpha," and "New Creation" using my affiliate link, here.

"Amen" song lyrics:

Count to three and say a prayer
Down for love and up for air
Underwater, overjoyed
Water for a thirsty soul
Water for a thirsty soul

Baptize me into Your love
Oh my spirit's overcome
Body, mind, and skin, bone
Love Him, wanna make it known
Love Him, wanna make it known

I'm comin' alive with You
I'm comin' alive with You
I was livin' a lie 'til you
I'm comin' alive with You

All the people say
Amen! Amen!
All the people say
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Yeah!

Resurrection day is here
Bells are ringin' loud and clear
Caterpillar to a butterfly
Risen to another life
Risen to another life

Yeah, I'm comin' alive with You
I'm comin' alive with You
I was livin' a lie 'til you
I'm comin' alive with You

All the people say
Amen! Amen!
All the people say
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Yeah!
Amen!
From death to life (Amen!)
From dark to light (Amen!)
I'm singin' out tonight (Amen! Amen!)

You're in my blood, my veins
In every word I pray
You gave it all for me
I'll give it all for You
Oh, I'm in love with You
Overwhelmed by You
And if the world is listenin'
This is my confession
You are my obsession

All the people say
Amen! Amen!
All the people say
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Yeah!
Amen!
From death to life (Amen!)
From dark to light (Amen!)
I'm singin' out tonight (Amen! Amen!)
Yeah!