Shine Jesus

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Dear friends,

We were put on this earth to glorify Him! I forget that sometimes...when I'm in a hurry, when I'm frustrated, when someone annoys me. And yet, my actions and my words are supposed to glorify Him and draw others to Him. Even when I'm frustrated or in a hurry or annoyed. That's hard! So our focus needs to be on Him and not our circumstances. If we're focused on Him, then we'll be able to take advantage of that Holy Spirit power within us to act not according to our circumstances, but instead in a way that shines Jesus and glorifies Him. I pray that for all of us, that we will shine Jesus to this world that very badly needs Him and that they will be drawn to Him. Give Him all the glory!

For the page, I used two Sweet n Sassy Stamps sets released this month: Bring Him Glory and Garden of Grace Bundle. The bundle is a digital set that can be downloaded. For this page, I used the traceables included in the set. Bible pages are thin, so tracing is easy! Tracing is a great way to get images if you can't draw. You can also resize the images for just what you want for your page.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Facing the Seasons of Your Life

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.

Proverbs 31:25

You have surely read all the virtues of the woman of noble character described in Proverbs 31. Many exegetical studies have tried to explain just how this woman accomplishes soooo much!  The last time I read this though, God gave me a delightful insight.  I noted that verse 25 comes after quite a lengthy list of tasks the "Noble Woman" achieves.  I was already worn out just thinking about emulating her, much less putting my feet to the floor to actually doing what she did.  But then this nugget jumped out at me, and it gave me a new clue to her efficient productivity.  

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.

First, she wears the right attire-- "She is clothed with strength and dignity."  It made me think of the rather silly movies of super heroes whose powers appear when they don their costume.  On a serious note, think deeply about this spiritual clothing...it's spiritual strength that she wears.  The source of this woman's power is the strength that God gives and since nothing is impossible for Him, she can certainly do anything He asks of her. When our focus is on accomplishing what God sets out for our day, we will be more efficient.  Things that aren't important will not distract us. 

Second, LOOK at this woman's amazing attitude.  "She can laugh at the days to come."  This isn't describing a woman experiencing a manic crest.  This is a constant, pervasive attitude of the mind and heart.  She is fearless...she is worry free...she is full of joy.  She has pushed out all the destructive thoughts that clamor to fill her mind, and she instead chooses simple joy as her outlook on life.  

At my age, I've passed through several seasons of life.  I've pursued the education to have a career, I spent 30+ years striving to be the best at my job I could be, I've been a mother and watched my own children move into adulthood. I've been a pastor's wife for 30 years.  I left the workforce and moved into retirement.  I became a grandmother.  I was recently asked to provide my resume...five pages of all that I've done.  Will I receive accolades for all of that?  No, not even most.  What God desires of us is not a long list of accomplishments, not that those are bad, especially if we are serving to glorify God.  But what He really wants is our heart, our dependency upon Him, our trust.  When we give Him those, He will bless us with strength, dignity and joy.  I'm not looking back...I'm looking ahead to the seasons of life that await me...and I pray that I can face each one with more and more joy!

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I did a simple watercolor wash to create the background for this page, did my own handlettering, and stamped the branch with flowers using the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps set Birds and Blooms.  The girl and the word joy come from the March printable, Garden of Grace, available at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. 

 

What do you see?

Hi friends,

When the people of Israel reached the edge of the Promised Land, God told them to send spies into the land to observe what was there and report back. Although these twelve men saw the same things with their physical eyes, their reports back to their people were very different. Tragically, ten of these spies saw the giants as the most significant part of the land and allowed fear to rule their response. The other two men - Caleb and Joshua - also saw the giants, but they recognised that the God who had called them to this land was more than capable of giving them the victory. They chose to look to God and His bountiful provision in this new land, rather than the obstacles that stood in front of them.

How often are we faced with the same choice? God calls us to step into a new opportunity or situation and we are faced with both amazing possibilities and daunting opposition. The question is: which one will we magnify in our sight? Others saw the giants... Caleb saw the Lord.

I watercoloured this background then added the clouds and sunrays using acrylic paint and stencils. The text was added using some of the fun new releases this month. Here are the sets I used:

     

 

I pray in whatever situation you are facing that you see with the eyes of faith the possibilities and promises God has before you, knowing that He is far bigger than any giants you may face.

x Amy x

Sew Seeds of Grace

"But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin
have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching
to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin,
have become slaves of righteousness."
Romans 6:17-18

Good Mondaaaayyy, friends and family!

So glad that you were able to stop by for a few minutes of your day - I'm hoping that you leave feeling encouraged and "spurred on" to love and good works!
This has been such a wonderful month, full of Beauty and, the topic I think we ALL love, Grace.  

The amazing duo of Sweet N' Sassy stamps and Diane Noble's "Garden of Grace" printables has placed such potential in our hands this month, wouldn't you agree??
The "Outline Alpha" stamp set I used for this entry made it very easy to obtain the look I was going for.  The process I used has been seen many places, and done by many people.  I'm not sure what it's called, but the following process shots should help you easily recognize it!  

Acrylic Paint and
Brayer on Cardstock

Add whatever colors you
want & just start rolling!

Decorate with washi & Stamps!
On this one, I used "Texture Tile"
& "Go With" stamp sets.

At this point, you have a great sheet full of color and texture that you can use for all sorts of things.

After I used the "Outline Alpha" stamps to create the word "Grace," I fussy-cut them out of my colored paper.  I still have a lot of this paper left over, and I plan to use them for other alphas, potential die-cuts and stamps shapes!
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The reason behind journaling and blogging this passage of scripture is simply this: we - I - have been shown an incredible amount of favor that we DO NOT deserve.  We've not only been given a freedom beyond freedoms in Jesus Christ; we've also been shown a kindness to then extend to others, that they may experience the same love of God we have experienced.
Our hearts are so fragile and break on a constant basis from one day to another.  There are many instances where sin breaks us, where tragedy breaks us, where failure breaks us...but, in all of this God still extends His abundant grace to cover the damage and fix the wreckage.
Far be it from us to withhold grace from another.  We are far too broken to render anything BUT grace to our fellow man!
As the passage above says, "Thanks be to GOD..." Thanks to whom?  God; only God.  Only, EVER God.  He's the one who has made all of the healing and restoration possible in ALL relationships of our existence; AND He grants us the ability through the Holy Spirit to represent Him in this way.  It is only fitting that One who is Holy, Righteous and above all things, be glorified by our kindness and grace toward others.  Sewing seeds of grace in the "soils" of lives with whom we come into contact, helps others to recognize us as a people that live according to a different regime - God's precepts and laws - and that Jesus IS attractive, amazing, gracious, and worthy of praise!  
It really is ALL about Him, and when we understand how costly this heavenly grace was, we'll more likely be willing to look on others as God sees others.  We'll understand that we're not above.  We're not beyond.  We're not an "island," by any means.  We are broken, needy and hurting.  We need healing and salvation, AND Jesus can give us just that!
Let's sew those seeds that woo others to the Lord.  As a Christian, our hearts have been forever changed by Grace.  Everyday, Grace.  Wonderful, matchless Grace.  Grace from the Lord. "Thanks be to God!!"
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🙏  Lord, I want to live like a Christian.  I want to love with a real love, and sew seeds of Your grace in others' lives.  I come into contact daily with those who do not know You, Father, and I pray that you'll guide me with words and actions that heal - words and actions that reflect the Author of life and faith.
Jesus, help us live truly and rightly as one who claims Your precious name, and it's in that name that I pray, Amen.
If you have any questions about being freed from sin to live with the heart of God, please let me know!  I'd love to talk about this more!!
Much love, my friends.
Deeds ✨

Here are the links to the stamping products used:

Texture Tiles

Garden of Grace Printables
Outline Alpha

I've shared other parts of my journey with Jesus on Instagram as @mrcfuldeeds2010 and Youtube, here.

Thanks for exploring this part of God's Word with me!

Pray The Word

Hi friends... I want to share something POWERFUL with you today.

"Pray the Word"... you're asking me, Elizabeth, what exactly does that mean? Before I tell you, lets all agree on 2 things.
1) The Word of God is alive and active - Hebrews 4:12
2) There is power in our words - Proverbs 18:21

Think with me for a moment, what would happen in the spiritual realm if we combine these two truths? If you take an alive, active, and powerful Word of God (Scripture) and you pray it back to God using your powerful words (mouth)... something supernatural happens and God begins to act on your behalf. His Word is not going to return void nor is it going to fall on deaf ears. God LOVES to hear His Word prayed back to Him.

The KEY to answered prayer is to pray according to the will of God and in accordance to His Word.
The way to have a supernatural prayer life is simple... pray the Word of God directly. When we do this we seek to align our words with God's will more fully. Praying in this way is in alignment with God, in the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit agrees with you too. I don't know about you but I want all of them on my side when I'm believing for something and need the Lord to work on my behalf. Are you excited yet?

I know you have all been there like I have and had times in you life when you were at a point where you didn't know what to pray or how to pray and the words just wouldn't come. Any time you find your self there remember you can always pray God's Word.

If you have never prayed the Scriptures before it is really easy and rest assured, there are no special skills needed. Praise the Lord for that!! All you need to do is locate a passage that fits your need/desire (google search or ask God to give you one you may already know) and then substitute the pronouns (he or she) with the name of the person you are praying for. You may do this for anyone - yes, that means you too. Use the correct pronoun that represents that person throughout the verse or passage. It's that easy!

For today's post I am praying for my teenage daughter. I am praying for her continued growth in the Lord and that she would flourish as a daughter of the Most High God. I want her to not be swayed by peer pressure, not to succumb to temptation, to be strong and rooted in her faith, and that she would blossom into the woman of God that she is created to be.

I remembered 2 Peter 3:18. "But grow in the grace and knowledge our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
I'm going to use my daughter Zoe's name and illustrate how I prayed this verse over.

Lord Jesus, I pray that my beautiful daughter Zoe would grow in the grace and knowledge of You. I pray that she would flourish as she grows into the godly woman You have called her to be. I also pray that you lead her in all things and that as she acknowledges You, You will guard her heart. Keep her mind pure and alert to the schemes of the enemy. Keep her from temptation and let no evil come to her. And you continue.... You can add more scriptures if you want or pray however your heart leads you.

It's SO powerful ladies!!! God is in agreement with YOUR prayers and He is faithful to His Word to perform it. You should be filled with excitement now!!

So, who is it that the Lord has placed on your heart to pray for? I encourage you to look up scriptures to help you pray for that person and their situation.

Psalm 91 is a passage that you can easily pray and is a great place to begin practicing your new skills. Try it! I promise you will feel empowered as a pray-er (is that even a word?). And just by adding this simple technique to your prayer time you will discover a depth to your prayer life that you never experienced before.

Artist Talk:
I used the simple watercolor 'stomping' technique my friend Colleen showed us and then stamped the tiny word 'grace' randomly all over the page using the same watercolors. You need to make sure that when applying the color to the stamp that it is dry wet and not wet wet like you would use for regular watercoloring. You want more pigment and less water for coloring stamps- especially tiny ones like this. Added some white spatters and then my page elements & finished with the journaling.
I love the watercolor look and used it for the "grow in grace" words as well.

Happy Saturday and may you too "grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus your Lord"!
Elizabeth 💕

Follow me on IG @ icolorinmybible

Check out the Garden of Grace devotional & printable bundle HERE. There are 4 pages of ephemera, washi strips, tabs, a devotional and more. I only used a fraction of the images on my page. Grab it for yourself and play along. 

Find the versatile stamps I used HERE

I'd love to hear your comments or see how you put this prayer technique into practice. Leave me a note or post a picture of your page.

But God Gives Growth

I don't know about you, but when I get passionate about something, I want everyone around me to be just as excited as I am. It's in my voice, it's my choice of words. I'm going to shout it out and tell the world.  Relate to that?

Where I have gotten into trouble is when I think my calling is your calling. Or even my way is better than yours. When I think my convictions should be yours. When I have thought my way was best, and you are just wrong. The older I have gotten, the more I totally understand that we are different. We are meant to be different that God has uniquely gifted each one of us.

Now read these verses:

"After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building." 

1 Corinthians 3:5‭-‬9 NLT

I thought of these verses and how this may play into bible journaling for some of us. We often look to others and compare. We try to do it her way, their way, God's way. We may journal prayers, write subtitles, blog, pray, read, pull out the commentaries. We might share every word or never share a thing.

I'm here to say your way, is right. What God has laid on your heart, do it his way, your way. I've been in the place where I have read word for word every sentence on the page. Soaking it all in. I've also been in the place where opening His Word and meeting Him on those pages... was too much.

God is using you in this season. He is growing your ministry.  It looks different for all of us, but He is doing it. Pray. Trust Him. Follow what He is calling you to do in this season and be present with HIM.

ART TALK
Hello printables! This month's printables were gorgeous weren't they? I printed the outlines on white sticker paper and resized them to fit the page. Here is a pic after I printed them.                    

Then I watercolored the flowers, pot and watering can. I cut a slit in the pot so the stems of the flowers fot inside. I stuck those to the page and then watercolored the background. Stamped with new Skinny Minnie Alpha set. And can we talk about that texture? 😍 These texture stamps are amazing!!! They go on every page!!! This is how I love finishing my pages. A little bit makes such a big difference.

Click her to shop Sweet N Sassy Stamps

You can follow me on IG @ StirtheSOUL 

(You can watch a time lapse video on my IG account.)

Blessings,
Colleen 

His Family Banner

Love love love reading the Bible chronologically this year. It’s so fun to see the whole Bible as one great big story from beginning to end.

I just finished reading Numbers and loved the organization listed in this great book. God is such a God of order and detail.

“Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses and Aaron: “When the Israelites set up camp, each tribe will be assigned its own area. The tribal divisions will camp beneath their family banners on all four sides of the Tabernacle, but at some distance from it.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It goes on to list all the tribes and their numbers and that they are to camp...under their banners...in specific places.

“In summary, the troops of Israel listed by their families totaled 603,550.”
‭‭Numbers‬ 2:32‬ ‭NLT‬‬

With over 600,000 people there had to be some order and structure!! Can you imagine them just wandering around with no idea what they were doing, or where they were going? Or who was leading whom?

Isn’t that often how we do, though? We just go about our business on our own little way, without a clue what we’re doing! Maybe that’s just me...I’m not sure.

But what I am sure of is this. God is a God of detail and instructions. He shows us how to live each day and we don’t have to wander around aimlessly doing our own thing.

I think it best if I stay under His family banner!!
Will you join me?

“So the people of Israel did everything as the Lord had commanded Moses. Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the Lord had instructed them.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭2:34 ‭NLT‬‬

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The art behind the story:

When I read these passages, I could just envision a large banner posted at each “neighborhood” camp.

I hand drew the banner in pencil first. Next, I added various watercolors in the background. Using the new Sweet 'n Sassy Skinny Minnie Alpha stamps, I stamped the word “Judah” in the banner.

After that, I stamped the houses from Love Your Neighbor several times. I added color to the houses and letters with colored pencils. Lastly I outlined the banner with a marker and added watercolor spots to add some visual texture.

Thanks for stopping by today. If you’re reading the Bible chronologically this year, leave me a note here in the comments, or send me a message on Instagram. I’d love for us to be to encourage each other to finish strong!


Hugs,

Gayle (Patio Ponderings)