Hi friends,

Over the past year or so I've been drawn more and more to the beauty of nature, particularly flowers. Maybe it has been living opposite a park and being surrounded by green, maybe it is because I've discovered a new hobby in making crepe paper flowers, but there's something about the variety and beauty of flowers and nature that I find breathtaking.

The psalmists also noticed the beauty and variety of nature, and recognised that this pointed to the Creator - our Lord God who created the birds and bees, the flowers and trees, in all their spectacular varieties. In Psalm 104, the psalmist exclaims 'O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.' That word manifold is one we don't hear in our modern English very often, but it points to both the quantity and variety of what God has made. And the psalmist recognises that the reason God made all these things is because of his infinite wisdom. 

God knows how each living thing is connected to another in the enormous and wonderfully complex ecosystem he has created. He also knows how much we need to be around nature, to appreciate its beauty and marvel at its Creator. When was the last time you stopped and studied the intricacies of a flower, with its varying shades of colour and petal shapes? When was the last time you looked at an animal and noticed with wonder its extraordinary features? I think the reason we don't do this as often as perhaps we need to is because of busyness. We rush through life from one appointment to the next, checking things off our 'to do' list, and we inadvertently hurry past the opportunities we have to stop and wonder at God's creation. Can I encourage you to take time today, or this coming week, to behold the wisdom of God as manifest in his manifold creation?

I used a bunch of Sweet 'n Sassy stamp sets on this page in my Journaling Psalter (you could say manifold designs!), including the new Song Birds and God is Faithful sets, along with some older favourites. I stamped all the images with black ink and coloured with Inktense pencils and an aquabrush. 

Be blessed... 

x Amy x

One of a Kind

 There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and Your name is great in might. Jeremiah 10:6

Hello Friends!

Today I'm in Jeremiah 10; and we're going to talk about how great our God is! Jeremiah 10:6 tells us that there is no one like our God. Do you believe that? It's a question we should ask ourselves. The fact is just that. There is no one and no thing like our God. But do we live in a way that proves we believe that?

No one, nothing, should have our attention, our devotion, our worship, our hearts, except for God Himself. Daily, believers are tempted to put their trust and their allegiance in worldly things. But, friends, the Lord will continually show Himself to be superior. There is none like Him! 

Don't let the world sway you from Him. Don't let the world put Him in a box or wrap Him up like a pretty little package. Don't let the world tell you who He is. Go to the Bible and let God tell you who He is. And let me tell you, He's pretty great!

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: God is Faithful, Send Me, Faith Wordfetti Too, Let's Do This, and the Grunge Grid stencil. I applied distress oxides to the page with blender brushes for the background. I added texture to the background with the stencil and some back ground stamps. With the Faith Wordfetti Too set, I arranged a few of the phrases on a stamp block and stamped them together for the background words. I colored the earth with colored pencils. 

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Upright and Faithful...

Hi friends,

The Psalms are a magnificent, marvellous guide to prayer, praise and thanksgiving. One of the themes throughout these songs and prayers is the meditation on and celebration of both God's word and his works. These are the two ways in which we can learn about and know God: listen to what he says, and watch/learn about what he does. And when we spend time watching, listening, reading, and learning, we will notice that God's word and his works are in perfect harmony. They reflect his character.

Psalm 33 is a celebration of God's character seen in his word and his works. We are invited/commanded to shout for joy, to give thanks, and to sing a new song to this amazing God who created the heavens and the earth, who loves righteousness and justice, and who has shown his incredible steadfast, faithful love (hesed) to humanity, despite their fickle and fleeting nature. God is faithful by nature - it's who he is - so that means that ALL his work is done in faithfulness. We can trust both his word and his work because we know that the one who speaks and acts is forever faithful. No wonder the psalmist concludes by committing to wait for the Lord, putting their trust in him as their help and shield. He is completely trustworthy because he is completely faithful.

I created this page in my Journaling Psalter by first applying white acrylic paint with a palette knife all over the pages, then adding pastel acrylics over the top using the palette knife to create a subtle background. I added sunrays using the Rise & Shine stencil and some gold Nuvo Mousses. I stamped the leaves from God is Faithful over the top once it was dry, then watercoloured using different shades of blues and green. The text was stamped using a combination of the stamps from God is Faithful, as well as Women of Praise, Sunshine Girl Alpha, and Happy Alpha. I couldn't resist adding a few butterflies from Spread Your Wings, stamped on watercolour card, coloured and die-cut with the coordinating dies. 

I pray you know God's faithfulness today.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Great is Your Faithfulness

 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 
his mercies never come to an end; 
they are new every morning; 
great is your faithfulness. 
'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 
'therefore I will hope in him.'"
Lamentations 3:22-24

We had a wonderful virtual retreat weekend in our Creative Worship Facebook Group talking about God's faithfulness, and is there any better song to sing about God's faithfulness than the classic hymn by Thomas Chisholm, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! "Great is Thy faithfulness!"  "Great is Thy faithfulness!" Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

I've been steadily humming this song for the last several days, dwelling on God's faithfulness to me. 🧡

Page Details

This is probably one of the simplest, yet beautiful pages I've done. It's simply a gelato background and stamps. I blended two gelato colors with my finger, and stamped the flowers and title using the brand new God is Faithful stamp set from my friend Deeds. It coincided perfectly with our virtual retreat! I then used a light coral color ink to stamp the coral sprigs behind the darker black flowers to add some dimension to the page. It only took a few minutes to create and yet, I have been soaking in the scripture and meaning for the last three days. That, my friends, is what Bible Journaling is all about! 

 

I pray you dwell on God's faithfulness this week. 

Love in Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

Surrender to Hope

 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. Lamentations 3:21

Hi Friends,

I don't know where you find yourself today- if you're having a good day or a bad day; but today, I want to talk about hope. We could all use a little! Hope is not found in this world and its messiness. Hope is not found in power or privilege. Hope is not found in worldly identities. Hope is not found in trying to control things. Hope is found by letting all the worldly stuff go, by surrendering to Jesus. After all, Jesus is Hope. 

In Lamentations 3:1-20, Jeremiah speaks of his afflictions. But then is verse 21, he says this: "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." In the midst of all his afflictions, in the midst of difficulty, he has hope. And he spends the rest of the chapter telling us what he remembers that gives him hope. And here it is:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

His mercies never come to an end.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I hope in Him." Lam 3:22-24

For the Lord will not cast off forever,

But though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love;

For He does not afflict from His heart or grieve the children of men. Lam 3:31-33

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven. Lam 3:40-41

You see, Jeremiah had hope because he knew God and was surrendered to Him. He knew the Lord's love was unconditional, that He was merciful and faithful, and compassionate. The Lord was more than enough for Jeremiah. Well, God doesn't change. Jesus is God, so He doesn't change. Jeremiah may not have known Jesus like we do, but he knew Jesus because he knew God. And he surrendered himself to Hope. We can do the same.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: God is Sovereign, Landscape Silhouettes, Nature Silhouettes, and Texture Tiles 3. I started by painting the background with watercolor crayons. When using watercolor crayons, I usually get my brush super wet and dab color from the tip of the crayon. Then I dab the color onto the page. I dab the paint rather than brushing the paint across the page because I like how the dabbing looks dry. Then I stamped the horizon, then the flowers in the forefront. I used a texture stamp to make the water look more like water. And lastly, I stamped the words.

Have a blessed week! Surrender to Hope. Andrea

Draw near to listen...

Hi friends,

When we come to God in prayer, is our first instinct to talk or to listen? I know for me, it is to talk. I have requests to bring, cares to voice, and hopefully thanks to give. But it rarely occurs to me to begin with listening. That's why I am so challenged by Ecclesiastes 5, which begins by telling us to draw near to God to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools. Rather than babbling on, we are to come into God's presence to humbly listen.

The writer goes on to instruct us (in case we haven't got it yet!):

Do not be quick with your mouth,

    do not be hasty in your heart

    to utter anything before God.

God is in heaven

    and you are on earth,

    so let your words be few.

That is quite the challenge, particularly if we have been told (and shown) that prayer is about an abundance of words to God.

So what does it mean to draw near to God to listen, to let out words be few? Perhaps it means developing the practice of silence before God, of stilling ourselves in his presence and just 'being' with him. This practice of silence is one that has long been practiced as a spiritual discipline across the history of Christianity, but in today's world it seems a particular challenge. There is so much noise competing for our attention that it feels like we have to continue the noise when it comes to God. But what if we resisted the pull of the culture around us and instead came in silence to listen to Almighty God? What space might that create to hear his particular word to us for that moment or season?

I used the new Spread Your Wings stamp and die bundle on this page, as I loved the image of a butterfly quietly coming near to the flower to draw on its goodness. I also used Watch Your Mouth for some of the words, as well as Marker Alpha and With Love Alpha to complete the text. I added the arrow from Send Me, and used the Mosaic stencil in the background with some Nuvo mousse, over the top of a watercoloured background using Inktense pencils.

Let's be people who draw near to God to listen before speaking.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

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