Sweet Words

"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." - Proverbs 16:24

We've all heard the children's rhyme: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It sure would be nice if that were true, right? The reality is that words can hurt. I've been on the receiving end of some hurtful words recently, and while I know they're not the truth according to God's Word, they still hurt my heart. So what do you do when words hurt? The first thing you need to do is take it to God and compare it against His Word. What does God say about you? God says you are created in His image (Genesis 1:27); God says you are unique (Psalm 139:14); God says you are valuable (Matthew 10:31); God says you are a sinner (Romans 3:23), but that you have been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9); God says you are His child (1 John 3:2); God says you are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17); and God says you are victorious through Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). Philippians 4 says to think on what is true, honest, just, pure, and lovely. Do the words match up to any of these things? If not, don't dwell on them and certainly don't give them precedence in your heart and mind. Let the peace of God rule in your heart instead (Colossians 3:15). 

I had fun creating this page using the Cheerful Hexies and Marquee Caps Alphas from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. It gave me time to reflect on my own words and whether I'm using them to uplift and encourage, or to cut and tear down. I want my words to be sweet words that reflect Christ's love in me. ❤

I pray this encourages your heart today, dear friend. May you use this day as an opportunity to encourage someone with sweet words. 

Love in Christ, 

Janelle ☺

@journalingjoy

Death, where is your sting?

Hi friends,

Many of us who have been in church for a while have heard the verse 'death, where is your sting?' and know it to come from 1 Corinthians 15:55, written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. But when I looked up this verse, I discovered that it is a quote from Hosea 13:14, which in the NIV translation says:

“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
    I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
    Where, O grave, is your destruction?

Here's the interesting thing that I learnt when reading the notes in my study Bible: the original Hebrew language of this text can be read as either a statement or a question (Hebrew doesn't use punctuation, and the grammar could mean either in this case). So the NASB translation of this verse says:

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?

But in the New Covenant, because of Jesus' triumph over death and the grave, we have certainty about this statement - no more questions! Paul's quotation of this verse from Hosea puts his readers in no doubt about the answer to this question:

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

 “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1 Cor 15:54-57)

Amen and amen! Thank you Jesus for removing the uncertainty of the past and giving us assurance of victory!

I wanted to create a page that looked like the darkness of death being taken over and swallowed up by the light, so I used some acrylic paints to create the background on this page. I stamped the main image from Victory in Jesus onto watercolour paper, coloured it with watercolours then fussy cut it out, sticking it onto the page with some Matt Gel Medium. The question marks are from two different alphabet sets (one coming new next month!) and I used Distress paint to stamp them over the black, going over the thinner ones with a white gel pen.

Let's remember that Jesus has removed all doubt when it comes to the fact that God has redeemed us from the power of death - thanks be to God!

Be blessed...

x Amy x

All In All

I love this song and the truth it speaks. Here are the lyrics:

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all

He is my strength and everything that I seek. I don’t want to forget that. To live distracted and forget who   He is and what is most important. I don’t want to forget the cross and how He took on my shame. I want to be consistently focusing on my relationship with Him. 

I’m coming out of a season, where I have seen the emptiness of dry cup. When I’ve waited too long to seek Him first. To have him be my cup... my ALL IN ALL. 

For this page I used distress sprays and watercolor. I love art journals to create in. I find so much freedom to use different media and just go where the page takes me. I used the All in All stamp set, Typewriter Text Background and the Texture Tiles 1.

Blessings,

Colleen

He is Risen!

He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Matthew 28:6a

Hello Friends!

Our Savior is risen! And since we have the whole story in the Bible, we understand what happened. But, can you imagine what Jesus' friends and disciples were thinking as they experienced His death and resurrection? Yes, He had told them what was to come. But they didn't understand. They didn't have our hind-sight. And they had their own expectations and assumptions of what Jesus was there to do.

So imagine...imagine that the Man you had followed and learned from and loved, the Man you had dropped everything for and devoted your life to, was killed. He was arrested, beaten and whipped horribly, and then crucified- an awful death. And you saw it all. Can you imagine watching a loved one endure that? I can't. You're broken. You're desperately sad. You're disillusioned. You're alone. You really can't comprehend what just happened.

His body is taken down from the cross and prepared for burial. He was laid in the tomb and a huge stone was rolled against the entrance. It was over. Jesus was gone. You thought you'd never see Him again. Your expectations and assumptions of what and who Jesus was were dashed. Can you imagine?

After the Sabbath, early in the morning, you go to His tomb, and WHAT??!! The stone is rolled away and an angel is sitting on it? How do you respond to that? Can you imagine what those women were feeling and thinking?

And then the angel speaks. He tells you not to be afraid. He tells you that Jesus is risen. He tells you to tell the disciples and that you will see Jesus in Galilee. What does this all mean? Could it really be true? Can you imagine?

Our God is such a big God that He can do the unimaginable. It was true. Jesus rose from the dead. HE IS ALIVE! And because He is alive, we can have eternal life. Thank You, Lord! He is the Giver of life, the Forgiver of sins, the Redeemer of anyone who comes to Him. He is our glorious God. He, and only He, deserves all praise. Let us be grateful and joyous in this Easter season. He is alive!

Page details: I used a new set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called He is Risen. I LOVE this set! I made the tomb mosaic by drawing different shapes with a Micron pen. I also used watercolor crayons and Prismacolor pencils.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Go and Tell, Girls!

Hi friends,

One of the details I love about the account of the resurrection of Jesus is that it was women who were told to go and tell others that he had risen. It was women who tended the body of Jesus and who visited the tomb faithfully, and it was women who the angel told and Jesus met after he had risen.

Often women can feel inferior or exempt when it comes to the preaching of the gospel or the bold declaration of what we have seen and experienced, but here in Matthew 28, it is the women who are commanded by both the angel at the tomb, and the risen Lord Jesus himself, to go and tell the disciples (the brothers!). 

Girls, whatever words we can find we need to declare to our brothers and sisters concerning the good news of the Gospel. Whether that be our own testimonies of God's goodness and salvation in our lives, or the words of Scripture that tell the salvation message (what a good reason to meditate on and memorise Scripture!), we need to GO and TELL. Those who hear us might be incredulous, or unbelieving, or even scornful, but their response is not our responsibility: our responsibility, our mandate from Jesus, is to go and tell.

I thought that these sweet girls from Girl Power 2 would be perfect to 'tell' the messages that are included in the Victory in Jesus set. I stamped the girls, cross and text, then drew the speech bubbles around the words. All the colouring is done with Prima watercolours, and the butterfly is stenciled using VersaMagic Ink. The 'go and tell' was stamped using Skinny Minnie Alpha.

I hope you feel encouraged by this resurrection account to go and tell the good news to others, whatever that looks like in your particular context. We serve a risen Saviour and the world needs to hear that!

Every blessing...

x Amy x

All to Him I Owe

"Jesus Paid it All, All to Him I Owe"

I grew up singing those familiar words. Yet somehow, they continue to challenge me more and more as I grow older. They remind me what Jesus did for me, and what I should do for Him.

Luke 23:45-47 describes the last moments of Jesus's life and His last words. "...'Father, into Your hands I entrust my spirit.' Saying this He breathed His last."(CSB). Jesus gave His all for me, for the human race. We therefore owe our everything to Him. Our eternal salvation. Our present reality of grace. I owe my life and my love to Jesus. My all! 

As I live my life, and go about my day, I need to keep that in mind. I need to surrender my every thought and desire to Him. That doesn't mean that EVERY word I say has to be about God. But it does mean that I keep Him in the forefront of my mind. As I'm watching shows on Netflix, I should remember what He sacrificed for me. (Ouch--will I still watch the same shows if I remember that?!) It's about keeping Him in mind as I'm shopping, and thinking about the way I spend my money.  As I'm at work, I need to remember that He gave His best for me, and so I do my best at my job, and in my interactions with others. When I wake up in the mornings, I must give Him my first attention, before the emails, the likes on Instagram, or the news in my feed. 

Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. I choose to live my life--my ALL--for Him!

I used several sets for this page in Luke 23 in my Illustrating Bible. I began by creating a background with some distress oxides in Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, and finally Concord Purple. I laid the color down with a blending took and pads, blended the inks, then sprayed the page with water to activate the oxides in the inks. Then I took each ink and applied some with water directly to the page, either with a wet paint brush, or by smooshing it with some plastic packaging. I also splattered some of the ink. This gave the speckled, textured look.  

I used the cross image from the Victory in Jesus stamp set as the focal point for this page. I stamped the cross in Versafine Black Onyx Ink, and painted it with a combination of watercolors and some distress oxides.  I then stamped the title from the Timeless Hymns set. 

I wanted to add more to emphasize the "all" aspect, so I took three word images from the All in All stamp set: ALL, 100% and all. I wanted these words to be part of the background, so I stamped them in the same colors as the background, but randomly around the margin.  I loved the effect it produced!

I made a tab for the page by stamping the second main image from the Victory in Jesus set. I stamped it in the same Concord Purple because that was the color at the top of the page, and I wanted to continue with that color.  I cut that out with the my tab punch, and then stamped the words "genuine love" from the Genuine Love stamp set. Finally, I stamped some texture with the grid pattern from Texture Tiles 1 set, added some journaling, a date stamp, and a hand-drawn border around the page.  

I pray as we near Easter weekend that you can contemplate the sacrifice Jesus made on your behalf, and the challenge--and invitation--that we are offered.  

Blessings!

Julie

(Affiliate links)

Victory in Jesus

All in All

Timeless Hymns

Genuine Love

Peace in Him

John 16:33

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! I have overcome the world."

      Peace! The dictionary defines Peace as: freedom from disturbance; tranquility. Seems like a simple concept right?!? Would you say that your soul is at peace? Peace is a concept I really never spent much time thinking about honestly. I've always considered myself a happy, content person. But with a huge loss in my family recently, I have turned to scripture for comfort. So many comforting verses talk about peace through our father. After losing someone you love, especially in a sudden, unexpected way, you most likely are struggling with the concept of "peace" like I am. 

This verse John 16:33, has popped up numerous times throughout my studies recently since my Dad passed in January. And what a perfect verse it is to focus on during a time of grief! Here, he explains.... Yes, I have told you that you will have trouble in your life, it won't be perfect and it won't always be easy, I haven't promised you anything different. But you can take comfort in knowing the I have overcome all of the terrible things of this world, and when you lean into me and seek peace in my name, you too will find peace.

I do find so much comfort just in the fact that Jesus admits, yes we will have trouble, that's going to happen. It makes me feel a little less alone and that he knows we will face troubles but that He will be there with us through it all. Last summer I learned about the word "Tharseo". It's a Greek word meaning "take heart or have courage", which is found all throughout the bible in many different circumstances. I have that word engraved on a necklace now because it is such a great reminder throughout your day, when you feel like you're struggling and need a little help. I whisper "tharseo", like a little reminder to myself that, I've got this, I can do this with God's help!

When creating this page, the scripture cross stamp reminded me of the crosses that hang at the bottom of a rosary. And for some people, when they are heavy hearted and lay their prayers at God's feet, they hold a rosary and give their prayers to God! So I stamped the scripture cross on card stock, backed it with some brown paper and cut the cross out. I attached a metal fastener to the top so you can twist the cross on the page like the rosary is just laying on top of the page. 

The background of the page was created using 3 different colors of Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, Walnut Stain) around the edges and blended together. Then I randomly stamped Typewriter Text Background and a Texture Tiles 3 stamp on the edges of the page, and softened the stamps with a little white acrylic paint on top to smudge it a bit. After I was pleased with the background, I used pencil and prismacolor pencils to hand draw the beads of the necklace, adding some shadow under the beads to help it look a little more 3-D. Then I secured the cross to the bottom of the necklace and my page was finished! I didn't want to background to be very complicated so the scripture verse is what stands out the most and is most important!

If you are struggling and going through a rough point in your life, I pray you many find some comfort from this verse and this page! He will see us through it, we just need to remain next to him and give him our troubles!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

IG: @faith.and.creativity 

Scripture Crosses

Typewriter Text Background

Texture Tiles 3