Pillar of the Truth

If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, 

which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 

1 Timothy 3:15

Hi Friends!
Today we're focusing on 1 Timothy 3:15. In chapter 3, Paul has been speaking on how members of the church should conduct themselves since they (we) are "a pillar and buttress of the truth." So what does that mean? Pillars and buttresses are structures that provide support to buildings. So, we as the church are to support God's truth. We are to uphold His truth and stand firm in it in this world of relativity. For us to do this, it is important that we conduct ourselves in a Christ-like way. We share His truth not only by sharing God's Word, but also by the way we live. As believers, it's so important that we are not swayed by the currents of this world. His truth is the ONLY truth; and we must stand firm in it.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: My Father's House, Consider the Wildflowers, Be a Flamingo, Mighty Fortress, Your Story, Joint Heirs, and Note This.

My Father's House and Consider the Wildflowers are brand new, and they are wonderful sets! My Father's House resonates with me because I'm missing my church family. But, it also reminds me that "church" isn't a building. It's us. And I just love Consider the Wildflowers. It's pretty colored. It's pretty black & white. I used watercolor crayons to color the page.

 Stand firm, my friends, and have a blessed week! Andrea

Change is Promised...

Hi friends,

Change is an interesting phenomenon. When we are comfortable and things are going well, we don't particularly want a lot of change. I think many people are feeling a lot of discomfort right now at the amount of change that has happened in their everyday life with the restrictions imposed as a result of this pandemic the world is experiencing. When we have our lives nicely planned and comfortable, this level of change is quite difficult to handle.

There are people, however, that are desperate for change in their lives. They are oppressed, miserable, stuck in bleak circumstances and in need of deliverance. To these people, the promise of change is one that brings hope. In Ezekiel 21:26 the Lord speaks against the ruler of Israel and promises that things will not remain as they are: the low would be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. This reminds me of the saying about 'comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.'

If we are experiencing affliction and distress, God speaks words of comfort to us and promises us that things will not remain as they are. He will rescue and deliver, bringing his salvation to us. But if we are living comfortably, without challenge to the status quo that we enjoy, God may well bring change that disrupts our comfort. Not just because he can, but because he wants us to rely on him, to learn to trust him in difficult circumstances as well as easier ones. He does indeed comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable, all for the purpose of drawing us close to him and making us grow more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

I created the background of this page with acrylic paints and a flat paintbrush. The verse was stamped using a combination of Mini Grunge Type Alpha, Loop da Loop Alpha and Messy Stamped Alpha. The butterflies are a digital stamp called Blue Morpho Butterfly, which I printed on clear sticker paper, cut out and stuck onto the background. Here are the stamps I used:

Let's look to the future with hope, because things will not remain as they are. God will bring transformation in his time and his way.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Train Well

Picture this: you are standing at the starting line on race day. You have been properly fueled and hydrated and you are dressed well to run your race. The buzz sounds signaling the start of the race and you realize that despite all the excitement surrounding this day there was one vitally important thing that you forgot: training.

Jumping into a race can be a lot of fun, provided that you are prepared for what you are about to experience. Yes, there are plenty of people who run just for the fun of it and don’t bother to prepare, but that is not realistic and honestly, not the safest thing to do. Races are exhilarating, but they are also strenuous on your mind and on your body. And if you are not physically prepared for what you about to embark on, the results could be detrimental.

Spiritually, it’s the same idea. Scripture tells us that we are all in a race. So, as believers, whether we want to run or not, is not really the question. We will be running. But how well we run depends on how well we have trained. My third racing tip for you is this: Train Well (if you missed the first two, Stay Hydrated and Wear the Right Clothes, I encourage you to go read those as well). 

The key to training well is to progress slowly and to include variety. You first must walk, then run. You need to strength train. You have to cross-train. Everything together is what makes you a stronger runner. But don’t set out to do it all at once. Excel in one thing and then add another. Learn how to squat well and then add weight. When your legs are strong, add cycling. See what I mean? When you attempt to undertake it all at the same time, you are going to burn out and risk injury. Step by step. Strengthen your muscles and add variety. Spiritually discipline yourself. Learn to pray. Be consistent with reading your Bible.  Learn the Shepherd’s voice and how to follow it. Get involved with a local church. 

Then serve.

Then teach Sunday school.

Then head up the hospitality committee.

Don’t get ahead of yourself and try to prove how good of a Christian you are to someone else. Satan wants you to fail. Satan wants you to get so burned out with your Christian walk that you give up on doing it all. He wants believers to get so frustrated with the basics of Christianity that they give up and quit growing. And he is very good at what he does. All it takes is a simple look around you, sometimes within your own family, to see how successful he is. Don’t let him win. Train yourself well. Slowly. Progressively. Permanently. 

I love how 2 Peter 1:5-10 explains it, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm our calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” 

The apostle Peter knew that all these qualities were necessary for a believer to be effective. They were the results of faith. The results of a desire to live a life of holiness. But he also knew that it wasn’t something that was going to happen overnight. First, he said add to your faith, virtue. Then knowledge. Then self-control, etc. Over time, all these qualities would work together and become second nature to the believer. They would naturally overflow in their life. Pursuing each of those things kept them strong, kept them alert, kept them growing as believers ought to grow. Once they were proficient in one thing, they could seek to add another. It was all part of a building block system meant to keep their spiritual fruit growing. 

Part of growth also means adding variety to your routine. Squatting body weight is fine for a while, but eventually your muscles get used to it and it loses effectiveness. So what do you do? You add weight. It places new demands on the same muscles, which in turn, makes them get stronger. Running is great cardiovascular exercise. But it only uses certain muscles. What about all the others that need training? Cycling, HIIT training, Kickboxing, all those things will target muscles that running won’t. Variety is key in growth. Getting stuck in a pattern of comfortable is not only boring, it can limit growth opportunities. 

As believers we can only be satisfied with milk for so long. Over and over in the New Testament you hear warnings of being immature in the faith (1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12, 1 Peter 2:2). Our bodies were meant to grow. Spiritually, we were meant to grow and produce fruit. But to grow, we have to get out of what is comfortable and do hard things. We have to take the basics that we know and are proficient in and add to it. We have to go through trials in order to produce perseverance (James 1:3). We need to suffer persecution in order to know how to defend our faith. Maybe we have to teach children’s choir in order to learn a lesson in patience. Maybe we have to live through a worldwide pandemic in order to learn how to genuinely care about people. Hard things are meant to make you grow. I’ve heard it said that 90% of fitness is mental and only 10% is physical. It’s all about perspective. You can do hard things. Set your mind on things above and pursue it with everything in you. 

Training in righteousness is a progression. It doesn’t happen overnight. But training well means we are focused. We are determined. We are growing as we ought to be growing and are producing fruit that is definitive of the believer. As we get proficient in the basics, we learn something new. We safely train our muscles to handle more strenuous activity. And when we are strong and equipped well, then we can run well. 

We’re hydrated. We’re dressed. We’re trained. There’s only one thing left to do, and that’s run.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Jennifer

IG: @lifeintherace

Crafty Details

A few weeks ago, after receiving some new watercolor paints, I made a set of journaling cards just so I could play with my colors. For this project, I grabbed one of those cards and stamped the Grow in Grace mini stamp with my MISTI. I then added some texture to the background with Texture Tiles 1 in Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade distress oxides. I colored in the flower with my Prismacolor pencils and wrote out 2 Peter 1:5-7 on the back. I clipped the card into my study Bible (which I don't usually do) but wanted it there as a reminder that in order to grow in grace, we have to be diligent to pursue the Godly characteristics listed. 

Thank our Healthcare Workers

Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything,

 but in every situation, 

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God. 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

We are living in crazy times indeed! A time filled with so much fear, uncertainty, questions, anxiety, anger.... the list goes on. There are so many sides and point of views to the virus and the state our world is currently in. But a few things will always remain the true; we are all humans and we are all going through this together, and God will be with us through it all!

Phillippians 4:6-7 tells us "do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God...will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Wow. So much truth and guidance in those verses. Worrying gets us no where! We can worry all we want, but it changes absolutely nothing. We need to pray, pray, pray and give our worries to God, and let them go. He's got this! When we give our worries and our cares to him, we are in turn filled with peace of mind, and we can rest knowing that God has us in his hands.

And again, no matter how you may feel about this virus and how it's being handled, we should all be able to agree that our healthcare workers are working tirelessly to save us and keep us safe. I pray often that God will give them strength and seek his wisdom in the movements and decisions they make during this difficult time. I believe more people are seeking God and his word than every before! And if we are looking for the silver linings in all of this mess, that is for sure a big one! 

Our healthcare workers are tired, stressed, worried, anxious, possibly scared, and even some getting sick themselves. They need our prayers! Pray that God will fill them with peace, wisdom and protection till we reach the end of this.... whenever that may be.

xoxo,

Stephanie 

@faith.and.creativity

Healthcare Bears Digital Stamp Set

Your Story 

Just Say Jesus

With Love Alpha 

Bitty Minnie Alpha 

I Prayed for You Today

Good morning, sweet friends, it's such a joy and pleasure to be here with you again!


Today is a short blog post, but one that I wanted to send as an encouragement.  Every week in the Creative Worship Prayer Warriors group, a good number of us rallies together to bless the name of the Lord.  Every person there is in turn blessed by the communal support and value of being a sister in the Lord - a sister under One Heavenly Father.

Tim Keller writes something truly amazing about this connection that we have - in Christ - as we lift our voices, crying out to God in this very unique and specialized form of communion:
"When we believe in Jesus, we are united to Him.  We are "in Him" as Paul says repeatedly.  This means that what is true of Jesus is true of us.  Because He has the perfect and secure access of an obedient child to the Father, so now do we."
And more, "When we pray in Jesus' name, therefore (don't you love how Tim Keller writes so eloquently???), we do so with supreme confidence and yet humble dependence on unmerited grace." (Prayer, p. 106)
He's saying that when we pray, there is intimacy with God the Father Himself because of our connection to Christ.  Ones who are written in the Book of Life, engraved on the palms of His hands, have unique and intimate fellowship with Him who created us - Him who spent precious blood for the souls of us all - our Heavenly Father.

We are not just saying words; we are speaking a different language.  This language that can only exist in the perfect connection between us and God.
Prayer is one of the most potent and powerful methods of communication; and we should never stop praying. 

Pray for each other.
Pray for your friends.
Pray for your mailman.
Pray for your neighbor.
Pray for your spouse.
Pray for your kids.
Pray for that one who hurt you.
Pray for that missionary.
Pray for their outreach.
Pray...

"Begin Again"

"In This Together"

Pray.
And don't stop.

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace," (Philippians 1:3-7)

Much love,
Deeds
IG: @mercies_journaled
Youtube: Mercies Journaled

Beautiful in His Time

"He hath made everything beautiful in his time..."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Time. It's what's on everyone's minds these days. I don't know about you, but to me it feels like time has sort of just stopped. No more school, no more work, no more hustle and bustle - just stopped. 

Ecclesiastes talks a lot about time and the meaning of this time that we've been given. We may have been surprised by all the recent events, but God certainly wasn't. God is the author of time, and it's His hand who controls everything. 

The first part of Ecclesiastes 3:11 reflects on the beautify of God's timing. Matthew Henry has this to say:

"That which to use seems most unpleasant is yet, in its proper time, altogether becoming. Cold is as becoming in winter as heat in summer; and the night, in its turn, is a black beauty, as the day, in its turn, is a bright one. There is a wonderful harmony in the divine Providence and all its disposals, so that the events of it, when they come to be considered in their relations and tendencies, together with the seasons of them, will appear very beautiful, to the glory of God and the comfort of those that trust in him. Though we see not the complete beauty of Providence, yet we shall see it, and a glorious sight it will be, when the mystery of God shall be finished. Then everything shall appear to have been done in the most proper time and ti will be the wonder of eternity."

All that is worth having takes time, and even the most difficult of circumstances can become beautiful in God's time. 🦋

I used the brand new Begin Again stamp set, along with the Cold Coffee Alpha stamp set to create this "beautiful" page. 😉

  

I pray you enjoy the beauty of God's timing this week. 

Much love in Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

Declare the Goodness of God!

SNEAK PEEK at a part of May's release!  Cannot wait for tomorrow!

Hello again, ladies.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to deliver a small message with some of the ladies in my local church.  We had a virtual "tea" and may I just tell you, what a thrill to see and hear these special ladies!!  It was only a 45 minute Zoom chat, but there was plenty of smiles to last me...at least until the Saturday. ;)
When God lays it on your heart to share something, you should.  That's why I want to share with you what He gave me to share on Friday.

This past year God has shown me over and over again that I need the Gospel. I've been a Christian for over 20 years and I still need the Gospel every day. I need Jesus to be a better mom, to be a better friend, to be a better wife, to be a better me.

The first thing God has been teaching me is this: The Gospel is for all people, whether you are a disciple of Jesus or one who has walked away or one who doesn't know who Jesus is, you need the Gospel.

The second thing God has been teaching me is this: The Gospel is for all people, whether you're interacting with a disciple of Jesus or one who has walked away or one who doesn't know who Jesus is, they need the Gospel.

Let's look a bit at something that I believe the Lord wants to say to all of us about that.  1 Peter 2:1ff says,

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling,
    and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

 WOW!  Did you see it?

If you have not rejected the Living Stone (that's talking about Jesus Christ) but instead, believe God is building you as a spiritual house to be "a holy and royal priesthood" you have power for impact to those around you.

But what does it mean to for us to be priests? Cuz, that's kinda different.
Back when Peter wrote this, when someone thought of a "priest" they would have thought of a Jew from the tribe of Levi, publicly ordained and anointed with oil, to be a minister and mediator between man and God by way of offerings and sacrifices.  I got to thinking and studying about this, and would submit that it's not so much the title of "priest" that Peter is emphasizing, but rather the lifestyle of a priest.  As Peter speaks, he doesn't say a word about being a Jew, or a Levite, dripping oil, handling the blood of sacrifice, or any such specific access to the Holy of Holies…

So, if that's not what he's referring to, what does he mean? Listen again to what Peter says of us…

1. a holy nation - Set apart, anointed not by oil, but the fire of the Holy Spirit.
2. a people for God’s own possession - in His service, working as a purposed part of His body of believers to keep the body functioning with Christ as head.
3. to proclaim

announce officially or publicly,

declare something you consider important with due emphasis

   4.     the virtues:  that's a strange word, so here's what virtues means:

behavior showing high moral standards

In face some of your translations of the Bible may say, "goodness," "excellencies," and "praises"

of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

At first, I couldn't see anything here that Peter is saying as having much relation to a priest's responsibility in the Old Covenant.  At least, I couldn't before I had this book, "Christ-centered Exposition in Leviticus."
Peter is telling us the purpose of our life in Christ.

How are we like the Levitical priests?

We are set apart and distinct representatives of God, that's true. What else?

He says, Proclaim…

Declare…

Make public the goodness and praises of God?  Did priests used to do that?

Priests, even in the strange garb and attire, turbans and all, announced God's virtues. Even as the ordained minister of sacrifices, handling the offering of an animal, blood, guts, and all, his proclamation would be, "the goodness of God."

Upon fulfillment of the sacrifice by the priest, someone - the one who brought the sacrifice and offering for sin, for guilt, for restitution, would be declared forgiven; covered; made right with and reconciled to God.  You can see that all over in the sacrificial system as written in Leviticus.

Their job pointed to the Messiah.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the law (Matt. 5:17)
We know that He was a Jew, from the Kingly line of Judah (Heb. 7, Rev. 5);  He was anointed by God the Father Himself (Matt. 3:17)
to be the High Priest and Mediator between God and man
(Heb. 7), offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all people (John 3:16).  And, as Hebrews again puts it appears "for us in God's presence." (9:24)

The priest's were pointing to the Gospel! And what is the Gospel?  The spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ, was sacrificed for our sins, our guilt, to restore and reconcile us to God, that we would be declared forgiven! Covered! Made right in our relationship to God Almighty.  This is wonderful news!  This was wonderful news for the Hebrew children in the time of the Levitical system, and it's wonderful news for us, right now, in the 21st century!

Peter says,

"Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

We are priests, not of the Levitical priesthood; but of a royal priesthood.
We are priests, not serving an earthly high priest, but under the rule of a perfect heavenly high priest.
We are priests, not by name, but by lifestyle.

We are priests, partakers in a holy calling, having tasted and seen that the Lord is INDEED GOOD, commissioned to declare the goodness of God - the praises of God - the mercies of God - the grace of God - the love of God.  Peter writes that
We have been chosen.

We have been forgiven.

We have been set apart.

We have become priests, in God's service, to proclaim and declare God's goodness - the Gospel.  And,  as we have encountered it in our lives, and as we know it to be completely needed in our world around us.  Like we agreed on before, we need this good news and we all know people who also need this good news!
News is for sharing.  News is for proclaiming.  This news of God's goodness is our declaration today! The Gospel is for us to give to others that they too may

1. Taste and see that the Lord is good
2. Come out of darkness into light
3. Become a people of God
4. Obtain the mercy of God
5. Become a priest under Christ
6. And declare the goodness of God to more!

I pray this was good for your heart and soul.  God's word is living and active, and I'm so excited that we have this good news to share with all people!

Much love,

Deeds

Stamps Used:
Begin Again (Sneak peak!)
Rebecca Script