Tickled Pink!

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3-4

Good morning, friends!

Do you delight in Jesus? Does He tickle you pink? He should! When you really think about our amazing God and all He has done for us, how He pursues us, how He loves us, He deserves our trust, our delight. Sometimes, I think we begin to take Jesus and what He did for granted because we've heard and read the stories so many times. But, when I think about it- really think about it- what He's done for me, for us, is indescribable. Jesus left His heavenly throne to come to earth as a man. He became what He had created. Can you imagine? I can't. He's God. Human words can't even describe Him, and He was willing to become a man. And not only was He willing to leave His rightful glory and throne to become a man, He did it KNOWING that He would be dying on a cross for us. And that brings us to the cross. Jesus knowingly and willingly went to the cross. It wasn't a surprise. It didn't just happen. He chose to allow it to happen. At any point of time, He could have stopped it. He's God. He has control over everything. But, He didn't stop it. Instead, He came to this earth as a helpless baby. He lived without much means. He didn't have a permanent home as an adult. He didn't have a lot of material goods. He wasn't like the other kings and "important" people with their palaces and rich living. Then He allowed Himself to be mistreated, physically and emotionally abused, and killed by the people He had created. So, if anyone or anything deserves our delight, IT IS HIM. And yet, so often, we delight not in him, but in things of this world. We allow the world to entice us and give up the true riches of pursuing God completely. So, I'm challenging myself to truly delight in Jesus. To make Him my priority. To pursue and seek Him in all things. And I invite you to that challenge too!

I had fun with this page using Sweet n Sassy Stamps sets: Be a Flamingo, Texture Tiles 1, 2, and 4, and Bitty Minnie Alpha. I also used watercolor crayons for the background.

Today is Sweet n Sassy Stamps' 11th birthday!

We're celebrating all month with promotions. From now through 11/14/18, you can get free shipping on all orders! Don't miss out! 

Have a blessed week, my friends! Andrea

Practice Hospitality

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
Hebrews 13:2

Hey guys!
It's Deeds, just SUPER excited to share a couple of MAJOR things going on right now! 
First, just this month, Sweet n Sassy Stamps released some beautiful #tb stamp sets.  Additionally, Korin Sutherland is putting together dream-like deals for the every-day-crafter and bible journaler.  Discounts, deals, and more!  But why?

Well, we're celebrating Sweet n Sassy's Stamps 11th birthday!  11 years old! 
You'll find all the information through videos and posts on the facebook page, the youtube channel and the website regarding the different ways we're celebrating - you don't want to miss out!

Something I've always struggled with is hospitality. Not, not, NOT my strong suit, and I have to work really hard at it.  Being an extrovert doesn't automatically make you a wonderful host and I've become all too aware of how little I practice the heart of God behind "hospitality." 

We read verse after verse in the inspired Word of God about this concept.  It's something that we see throughout scripture in various forms and styles.  We find accounts given to us as examples of God's intentions when it comes to hosting - which is more than just opening the doors of our house.

It's more than interesting to me when God places a "bug in my ear."  That "bug" tends to multiply, crowd, and take over the "free space" in my brain.  But gracious God always lends the helping hand of the Holy Spirit to truly impact and move.  This in turn places the conviction deep down, and I'm caused to visit this area time and again.

Hospitality is often a burden.  God never said it wouldn't be.  In fact, in ALL places of scripture, it's an inconvenient labor of love.  True, authentic, holy love.  It's administered via the belief in God's Word, and taking action on those beliefs.  It starts with the heart. 
So what does hospitality look like, according to scripture?

Hillary @creativefaithco provided a 26-day devotional to help us gear up for such a time as this - the Advent season - called, "The ABC's of Christmas."  Within the pages of this book, we have a letter attributed to something that relates to Christmas, along with scriptural prompts and simple challenges.

"H" is for Hospitality.  Obviously, during this time of year, the crazy of hosting and preparing our homes and lives is inevitable.  However, there's more to hospitality than simply opening the doors of our homes, and it's more than providing a fun place to sip, eat, and party with friends and relatives; it's being aware of the strangers and unknowns of our world and seeking to show them the openness and warmth of the Lord Jesus.  Hospitality in the Bible happens toward those who are otherwise outsiders, outcasts, those without, and those with need.

The process videoand devotion on my channel goes a little further into this, as well as my hopes for myself and my family this year in the matter of being hospitable.  What are your thoughts about hospitality?  Does opening your house seem bothersome when it comes to people you don't know?  If we think about God's idea and mode of hospitality, does that change our thinking at all? 

Much love,

Deeds

Protect Me God

Watch A video of this page being created by clicking HERE!!!!

“The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say concerning the Lord, who is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust: He himself will rescue you from the bird trap, from the destructive plague. He will cover you with his feathers; you will take refuge under his wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91:1-4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Blessings,

Colleen

Come into His Presence

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

Psalm 95:1-2

God is omnipresent--present in reality at all times.  Every believer also has the reality of the indwelling Holy Spirit...God present in us.  So why would scripture allude to a "coming into his presence" as though we could be away from it?  

We've had an absolutely stunning fall around our home place this year.  One breathtaking scene after another appears all along the roads in the short distances we travel nearly every day.

I don't know why, but fall brings me into the presence of God in fresh ways every season.  He created me to love color, so when He displays the splendor of His artistry as these photos barely capture, I am so awed by Him.  I know God is always near me, but there are times when I "come into His presence."  These are times I feel closer, I move closer to Him in prayer or through something His Word speaks to me.   

There have been times when I've been brokenhearted and I come into His presence for an extra measure of closeness and comfort.  When I hold my grandson while he sleeps and I ponder the potential of his life, I come into God's presence.  In worship at my church, I feel God tugging at my heart to forget all those around me and just come into His presence.  His presence is sweet, secure and surges with power. 

I fall so short of being able to adequately describe the wonder and awe of coming into God's presence.  But I know when I do, He is always there, always ready to take my spirit to new heights, to deepen my faith and broaden my vision of His plan for me.  And every time, without fail, when I come into His presence I have to bow in thanksgiving.  That incredible, breath-taking moment of feeling the rush of His presence pulls gratitude from the innermost reaches of my soul.  All that He is, all He has done, all He has planned for me, all He will accomplish...all of Him makes me want to run into His presence and always....always with thanksgiving!

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Design Detail:  I just had to pull out my fallish and very fun printable, Sunflowers and Pumpkins for this page.  These are so perfect for the season.  Here I used a clear, matte finish sticker version of my images.  And just because I could, I layered them right on top of each other.  A few simple splashes on the page and words from one of my favorite stamp sets, Incredible Blessed and a very simple page took only minutes to do.  

 

You can check both of these out on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps store page.  

Tiny acorn to Mighty Oak

Hello! November is here! This month at Sweet N Sassy stamps there is a party going on...this month we turn 11! Giveaways, great deals and fun live events are going to be going on all month long over on our facebook and instagram accounts. Today I am sharing a page to kick off gratitude documented as well as continuing through my 100 days of Bible promises book.

This page was such a joy to create...I started with the give him glory stamp and then stamped leaves, pinecones and acorns from the incredibly blessed stamp set. I also drew in a couple large acorns as I wanted them to be more visible on the page. Using my watercolors I dropped in fall colors letting them mingle and mix on the page. The journaling came next followed by a tab party at the top of the page and some wordfetti, puffy hearts and red jute bow.

Psalm 37:3-4 "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
Reading this made me remember a sweet story I read to my children about a tiny acorn who was very sad because he was small and overlooked. I loved this analogy of how God takes our tiny acorn lives and grows them into tall mighty oak trees that bring glory to God as they reach up to point to the creator of all.
Father, plant your seeds of desire for your purpose, your dreams and your callings. I am filled with joy when I consider the possibilities! Amen!

Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share my heart. Stay tuned and up to date with all the fun and festivities over at Sweet N Sassy stamps on Facebook and Instagram.

Love and prayers,
Jenn @creativegurl 85

Restoration

Show Hospitality... Without Grumbling!

Hi friends,

Today is new release day over at Sweet n Sassy Stamps, and this month is a special month as SNSS turns 11! One of the sets being released today is the adorable Cocoa's Cups, which is a combination of previous favourite Cocoa images - sooo cute!

I had a think about what Scripture verses I could illustrate using this set and one of the words that came to mind was 'hospitality'. I used an online Bible website to search for the word hospitality and found a few verses to meditate on. One of them was in 1 Peter 4:9, which says "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling." This is such a simple, straightforward instruction, but oh how we (or maybe just I?) need to hear it! How easy it is to moan about the dishes or the mess or the time or money spent in showing hospitality - even, and maybe especially, to our own household!

But God asks us to serve with grace, not with grumbling. We are called to follow the example of Jesus, who poured out his life for others without grumbling or complaining. So, next time we have to clean up a spill, do extra dishes or spend time we feel we don't have cooking, cleaning or caring for others, let's remember to minister hospitality with grace rather than grumbles!

I stamped the images from Cocoa's Cups onto watercolour card then cut out different elements to create this scene. The verse was stamped with a combination of Rebecca Script Alpha and Bitty Minnie Alpha, and I added some splashes in the background using one of the stamps from Grunge Elements 2. Here are the sets I used:

I pray that you would be richly blessed as you extend the gift of hospitality to those around you!

x Amy x