Learning to Wait

Good Morning everyone!! 

The page I am sharing with you today is based on a verse in the book of Isaiah. 

Isaiah 30:18

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him."

In this chapter, the people of Israel were seeking help from Egypt instead of turning to God for help. They didn't want to hear the truths that the prophets spoke of, they only wanted to hear what they wanted to hear. So they looked towards sinful things that appeased them. God is a jealous God. He gets very angry at them for turning to someone else for help instead of him. The only help we need as believers is help from the Lord. We should not look to the world for answers as it is the world that will lead us astray. 

Egypt is also a symbol of the "worldly things" we seek. The Pharaoh was nothing more than a man, and God had proven his power over the Pharaoh time and time again, yet they still choose to seek the Pharaoh's wisdom over their own God. We as christians need to be patient and wait on the Lord! His timing is perfect and he knows the plan for our lives, not us! So we need to wait on his timing and his mercy. He will never leave us, we just need to wait to receive his guidance, not rush ahead because we are impatient and want answers now. 

I kept this page simple because I wanted the message to stay strong. I used the napkin technique to apply this sweet bunny onto my page. I went Live on the Creative Worship Bible Journaling Facebook Group earlier this week showing just how to do this napkin technique. 

1. You trim your image of choice and peel off the back layer of the napkin leaving only the thin layer your image is on. 
2. Then apply and thin layer of gesso to your page where you want the napkin to go, and gently press and smooth the napkin down to your page. 
3. I have found if you then dry the napkin and gesso it helps with the next step. 
4. The last step is to very gently apply a layer of gesso over top of the napkin to help seal it to the page. Try to apply just enough to hold the napkin down and cover it. The more wet your napkin gets, the easier it will be to wrinkle or rip it. 
5. Then just dry it one more time, trim off the excess napkin from the edges of your page and you're done!! The bunny on this page is just an image cut from a napkin but it looks like I drew it on there. Such a fun technique to add to your bible journaling arsenal of tricks!

I hope you all enjoyed this page and the technique shared. If you have any questions at all about it, please feel free to send me a message and I would be happy to help! I have also listed the stamps I used on this page below. Mixing up the different alphas made for a fun touch to the message on this page.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Stephanie Gammon

xoxo

Holy Spirit

Teeny Alpha

Classy Script Alpha

Seek the Lord and Live

Seek the Lord and live. Amos 5:6

Friends,

Amos 5 repeatedly tells us to "seek God and live" (verses 4, 6, 14). Of course, when Amos wrote this, he was speaking to Israel. What he was telling them was to seek God, not in the false worship they were guilty of, but in humility and righteousness. That message is true for you and me too. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 to seek His kingdom first. How do we do that? We intentionally pursue God. How can we do that?

• Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (How do we renew our minds?)
• Colossians 3:2, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." (What are the things above?)
• Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things."

When we seek Him, and give Him ourselves, we are given eternal life. So, seek Him and live. And, sisters, let's help each other seek Him. Let's build each other up in Him. Because...He. Is. Everything.

For the page, I was SO excited to get to use Sweet n Sassy Stamps' new Girl Power Printable. It has 10 (yes 10!!) adorable girls as well as words/phrases. When you buy the bundle, you get a PDF as well as the individual PNG files! And this printable is a hint of things to come!! I also used Teeny Alpha, one of the sets released this month, and an oldie but goodie- Scribble Flowers. The background was done by scraping acrylic paint across the page. And I used a Micron pen for the thought bubble.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Praise God Through It All

 It is good to praise the Lord and make music to Your name, 

O Most High, 

proclaiming Your love in the morning 

and your faithfulness at night... 

Psalm 92:1-2

God's Word is replete with the praises of His people even when going through tribulations. All of us can recount times when we were broken with bleeding hearts and yet found we could still feel the loving arms of our God wrapped around us.  One of the reasons we can praise God in the middle of any storm is His faithfulness to us.  Our praises don't emanate from the purity of our hearts, but by the Spirit in us who lifts our eyes away from circumstances to focus on the God who will see us through it all.

I recently heard a song that totally resonated with me and I want to include a link at the end of the post to the song if I can.  The lyrics speak of God's faithfulness and how he is with us through it all when we get it right and when we don't. I hope you'll take a minute to listen if you need to feel God a little closer to your heart today.

Design Details:
I've started designing pages in a small three-ring binder that is my praise book.  I've had it for more than a year and decided I wanted a place where I could journal more and have more design work than I can do in my Bible.  And I thought a praise binder was a perfect place to create using the printables from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  Our printables are a relatively new line and while certainly not limited to Bible journaling they are perfect for that, sized with a Bible page in mind.

We are beginning to branch out and think of lots of ways to support Bible journaling, but my line of printables are unique for several reasons.  You get a ton of ready to print-cut-use images that coordinate with a theme.  But you also get an interactive devotional that takes you to the Word of God and enables you to spend real study time there, meditating on how God is speaking to you to apply the truths of His Word to your life.  The interactive portion takes you into a worshipful, quiet time with God.  In addition to the designs and devotion you also get Bible passage prompts...samples of scriptures where the printables can be used...all following the theme of the printable.  This month's printable, Rain or Shine, includes verses of scripture that encourage our praises through all events in our lives.  But one of the most unique and helpful components of our printables is that the download gives you not only the printable, but the digital files in color AND outline.  You receive all the colored images as JPEGs and PNGs which allows you to resize, flip, layer...create to your hearts content and in a sense create your own printable.  With the outline images you can expand your creativity and personalize the images by coloring or using paper-piecing techniques. Our design team members are showing tons of ways to use our printables and all have done amazing worship-filled projects that will totally inspire you.

All of the elements on these pages are from the printable.  If you have a cutting machine, you can make fast work of creating these die-cut like designs or you can run the printable through with sticker paper.  So the versatility of these is a hugh selling point.  Here I've combined the printables with some of my favorite stamps, all released this month--Just Say Jesus, Teeny Alpha and from last month, Skinny Minnie Alpha, which is quickly becoming a go-to alpha set.

One of the things I like about using my binder (purchased through Illustrated Faith), is the SPACE I have for creating. I've included personal thoughts, scripture, and song lyrics...all things that take me to the heart of worship.  So whether you are creating in  a binder like this, traveler's notebook, junk journals, or your Bible these printable will offer you tons of possibilities.  But scrapbookers and cardmakers are certainly not forgotten.  These are perfect for you too, AND with the digital images provided you can size them for your specific needs. 

Sets Used:

Rain or Shine Printable Bundle

by Diane Noble

3 sheets of print and cut designs, interactive devotional, scripture prompts AND

PNG/JPEG files for personal creations. 

Just Say Jesus by Rebecca Rios

Teeny Alpha Clear Stamp by Korin Sutherland

Skinny Minnie Alpha by Rebecca Rios

Don't forget to listen to this encouraging song by Colton Dixon, Through It All

Choose Life!

Hi friends,

Sometimes there are things in the Bible that are complicated or difficult to understand, and other times there are things that are so simple, yet it can take our whole lives to actually live them out! Deuteronomy 30 shows how Moses presents Israel with a very simple choice as they move forward into the Promised Land:

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days" (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

When I was reading this chapter the two words that stood out to me when it comes to choosing life were love and obey. The thing is, choosing life isn't just a casual choice we make, like ticking a box on a form that says 'life' rather than the one that says 'death'. This choice is played out in the other choices we make in life. That is why love and obedience are linked to choosing life. We have to start with love for God - without that, any choices we make will be surface-level and motivated by the wrong things, so will not produce lasting fruit. Love for God needs to be our motivation for the choices we make.

But love, by its very nature, results in obedience. Jesus said "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching." (John 14:23). We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that we can profess love for God but continue to ignore His loving instruction. Yes, God is abundantly gracious and continues to pursue us when we mess up and disobey, either in ignorance or blatant disobedience. However we need to be aware that life in all its fullness (the life Jesus has come to give us) is found on the pathway of obedience. So let us continue to choose this life out of love for God that is expressed in simple, childlike obedience to His voice.

This page already had some journaling notes on it from a previous reading of this passage, so I decided to stamp and colour around them so they formed part of my illustrated page. I used the stunning Rose Banner set to stamp the roses and butterflies, then coloured with Inktense pencils and an aquabrush (my favourite way of colouring!). The words were stamped with the new Teeny Alpha set, along with the 'life' from Message of Hope.

      

Can I encourage you to reflect upon what choosing life looks like for you? What areas of heart motivation might God be gently highlighting? Are there choices to be made that require obedience? God will continue to lead and encourage us as we follow the example of Jesus in choosing life!

x Amy x

Jesus Is The Way

"We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way;

and the LORD has punished Him for the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah 53:6

When I was younger, I was more of a country gal than I am now.  I lived in Podunkville, USA and in the very center of agriculture and farming.  Each day, you could bank on seeing a tractor mosey down a main highway, stopping up traffic for half a mile or so; smelling the dingy dust of a turkey farm that - if you had never had an allergy in your life - could cause the need for an inhaler; sprinkler and irrigation systems running for miles into farmland, which, if hit just right by the sun, could render miles of mists and color; and of course, don't forget the flocks of sheep bumbling, bumping into one another as farmers and 2 or 3 Collie mutts drive their sooty-white, wooly bodies across yet, another main stretch of highway. This too, can stop up traffic for a good half mile.

I never once wished to be a farmer on one of those drives.  NEVER.  Never once did I have ambition or desire to care for a group of 100+ seemingly lost and stupid sheep from one area of pasture to another. To me, that was a waste of life!  Sheep are not obviously intuitive and have an astounding lack of direction and will.  They go where they feel the rest are going, continuing on a path no matter how dangerous its potential.  They'll follow one another into pits, creeks, barbed fences...basically, if the poor sheep-farmer doesn't keep them all in check, he'll have not one sheep remaining after the 15 feet of crossed pavement! 
As the country-wanna-be-city girl, I pitied those dumb animals.  "Why would God make a creature and leave it without some form of defense mechanism," I'd wonder.

I read this passage in Isaiah not long ago, and it hit me - God does provide a line of defense for those sorry life forms: it's man.  Man protects his flock, guides his flock, waters his flock, defends his flock, leads his flock; sheep ultimately live from man's provision and care.  Without man, well, does the phrase, "sheep to the slaughter" mean anything? 

Isaiah is so poetic throughout his book.  Once I heard someone refer to it as the "gospel according to Isaiah," before and can totally get on board with that rendering. The gospel according to Isaiah; the "good news" put forth in Isaiah's form of writing.  Look how beautiful...

"Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
 And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt"  (vv. 4-10)

We, like sheep have gone astray?  Did you know you're a sheep?  Did you know I'm a sheep??
So it turns out that my need for a Protector, a Leader, a Provider is as strong as a sheep's dire need for the protection of its owner.  Without it, that poor sheep is lost - I am lost, and apparently wandering without my Shepherd.  But God provides for this "sheep," much like He does for my wooly friends - only Way better. :)
In my flesh, I reject this.  In my heart, I acknowledge this.  In my soul, I rejoice in this.  Say what?  Rejoicing in weakness?  Rejoicing in ineptness?  Rejoicing in neediness?  Absolutely.

Jesus told Paul, "for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  (2Cor. 12:9)
So where's the connection between our being sheep and rejoicing in that?  Jesus.  Jesus is our connection.  How?
Read v. 7 of Isaiah 53:  "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth."
Jesus, too, is likened to a sheep.  NO!  Jesus isn't wandering.  He's not inept, inadequate and needy!  He doesn't need a constant protector and supervisor.  Nope, He doesn't.  

Jesus was the perfect lamb - a spotless sacrifice - for the rest of us sheep.  God, took on the life form of a human in Jesus Christ, became like us BUT WITHOUT SIN, and offered Himself as the greatest and most perfect of sacrifices, satisfactory to the wrath of God Almighty.  Conquering the grave and hell by giving Himself on the cross, He is now victorious, sitting at the right hand of God in glorified form!  Our Lamb.  The Lamb who was slain for our weaknesses.

The gospel message is this: Christ died, was buried and was raised for our sins.  We are all sheep that have gone astray, and because of Jesus, we have a Way.  In Jesus, we know THE Way.  Jesus is THE Way to everlasting life with the Father.  He's the ONLY Way to eternal life in glory.  He's ALWAYS been the Way God has provided for the "sheep" that have gone astray, so that we may have direction, protection and life!

Jesus is the Way!  Our triumphant, amazing Lamb who makes us strong and gives us direction.  Our Shepherd who provides our every need; who reigns powerful in our poverty!

Praise Jesus, and Amen!

Much love,

_Deeds_

IG: @mrcfuldeeds2010
Youtube: mrcfuldeeds

Bold Prayers

I don't know about you but sometimes I just have weak prayers... You know, the kind that you barely squeak out because you feel some sort of duty to utter them each morning when you wake up. The grace over dinner, or the quickly sent up prayers over your kids when you tuck them into bed at night. The someone is praying... they may or may not believe what they are saying, but you can tell they lack the confidence in an almighty God over the situation which they are praying for. I'm not suggesting that we don't do these I just think there is more to praying than just that don't you? I want to make the devil shutter when I pray.

Now that we understand weak weeny-fied (that's southern for 'wimpy') prayers lets talk about BOLD POWERFUL prayers for a minute and how we can access God with more power, boldness, & confidence. 

Bold Prayers all have 3 things in common...

1. They are prayers that pray the Word of God. We talked about this in a past post. You are now in agreement with God when you pray the Word back to Him. That's POWER.

2. Need to be bigger than yourself. Believe God for something big, something that seems far out there, a dream, a goal, or ability that you could never accomplish on your own. A miracle healing, a supernatural promotion, an impossible obstacle to be removed...you get the idea. When you pray this kind of prayer then it shows God your level of faith and when He answers it, the only explanation is to give Him the glory. That's BOLDNESS.

3. Boldly approach the throne  - Hebrews 4:16 NLT - So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God... That's CONFIDENCE

Now THESE kind of prayers get answers. They are full of power and confidence in the sovereignty of God Almighty. It's time that we stand up and be bold in our faith and by bold I don't mean going all crazy pants. I mean the prayers that scare the enemy and put Heaven on high alert. :)

God is not scared of your audacious prayers. Be bold. Have Confidence. March right up to God and ask Him for what you need. 

1 John 5:14-15 - And we are CONFIDENT that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for. 

Well there ya go... that settles it right? No more wondering IF God still answers prayers. The thing that you must not miss though is the part where it says "whatever you ask that PLEASES HIM". We need to pay attention to that and ask things according to God's will and not our own. If you're like me you often fall into this trap and pray for God to do what you want to see done or move in a way that you see fit. No no. Pray about that which concerns God and pleases Him. Those prayers get answered.

Think about what it is today that you need to have more faith for. What is it that you haven't prayed about because you thought it was TOO BIG or TOO IMPOSSIBLE? Go ahead... I dare you today to be bold and pray desperate powerful prayers and watch God get to work! Report back to me if you do. I wanna celebrate with you answered prayers. 

** Bonus Scripture Ephesians 3:12**

Pray Bold!

Elizabeth

IG @icolorinmybible

Art Tips:

My handpainted bluebonnets were inspired by my friend @messybible and you only need 3 simple things to create them.

1. Acrylic paint

2. Q-tips

3. old empty gift card or credit card

Start by stomping the gift card through a puddle of green paint and use to 'stamp' the stems. Next you use the side of your q-tip and dip it into the dark blue paint. You need it to be on it's side to create and elongated oval-ish shape. Continue filling the bluebonnet up to the top of the stem. I added a hint of purple for depth then light blue and white to finish off looking a bit more realistic. This was very easy, fun, & relaxing. No rhyme or reason just have fun and create some cool abstract bluebonnets. And in case you aren't from the great state of Texas, celebrate with us anyway.  Just kidding, you can use this technique for any color flower you'd like. :)

Since I used my new Interleaved Bible I had plenty of space to add some personal prayer journaling after photographing this page.

I'm loving this new set from Sweet N Sassy Stamps called Just Say Jesus. It's versatile, cute, and has so may possibilities. Grab one for yourself. 

I also used these outline stamps. I love them and that they are easy to cut out so I can stamp them onto any patterned paper or in this case a photo. I now have a custom matching alphabet that coordinates with whatever I create. Viola!

SHINE ON

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 

Philippians 3:12‭-‬16 ESV

You have a unique purpose.

But what does that look like for you? Where has God placed you? What is he asking you to do for Him?

What's your calling? Your passions? What makes you bold and determined? Who are you drawn to minister to? Children? Women? Familes?

Where do you find your calling? What is your purpose as a woman?

How has your ministry changed over the years? How has your passions and gifts changed?

Are you miserable where you are? Too scared to walk away? Are you wishing for bigger or better opportunities?  Just a little more recognition? Are circumstances just unchangeable right now? You just feel stuck?

I don't know why all I can do is ask these questions. But it challenges me. We all get a little lost! We get feeling a little unappreciated. We get tired. We forget who we are...

But. Friend. You and I are daughters of the king. We are unique. We have a purpose. In the NOW. In the today, God has us here for a reason. We must live running towards the prize! Run for the Gospel. Run for Him.

ART TALK

Used the Be Unique Stamp set from Sweet N Sassy Stamps.

I started with watercoloring the background to look like sky and grass using the Jane Davenport Brights Pallet.  Then I stamped the unicorn on white sticker paper and used the Mermaid Markers to color it in. I added some blue paint to give the sky some texture. Then stamped the words on. Love this set and all the options you can do with it!!! 💜

Blessings,
Colleen