Grace That is Greater Than All Our Sin

Some of the old hymns have the theology right! Regardless of your stance on contemporary vs. traditional music in church, you just have to admit the wording of some of the hymns will stand the test of time because they are rooted in the Gospel message.

I've joined several social media groups that showcase Bible Art Journaling.  I think I'm going to make a linked list on one of my tabs (pages).  There is a plethora of inspiration out there...oh, and don't forget Pinterest.  Sometimes if I browse too long, I get discouraged.  There are amazing artists out there...amazing.  But I have to keep reminding myself it's not about the art on the page; it's about the devotion in the heart. It's about the worship experience you have WHILE you do the artwork.  It's God's Word that is at the heart of it...and the art is the icing on the cake (and I'm no cake decorator!).

My pages center on the theme of God's grace.  Of course, there are a ton of old hymns that reflect that theme.  But this one kept going through my head, so I used a part of the page of a hymnbook (sorry if I made you gasp) and made it into a tip-in.  That's a note, tag...any extra piece of paper ephemera that you insert into your Bible affixing it so it will hinge, or flip up or over.  It gives you more journaling space and allows you to have something opaque and relatively large in your art form without covering the words of Scripture.

Click on the photo to enlarge for a clearer view of the coloring/highlighting on the text.

For the left side of the page I mixed stamped and hand-lettering.  It will be a YEAR before I get this hand-lettering thing mastered.  It's just harder than it looks.  I have a very long way to go, but I will persevere.  I sponged and underlined the verses I wanted to highlight using SU inks and markers.  The stamped words are from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and I'll showcase those at the end of the post. 

Good Friday (when I created this) is such a powerful picture of God's grace.  That God would love us while we were yet sinners enough to go to the cross is too vast, too deep, too loving to even fathom.  Jesus was the sinless, perfect lamb of God, given to the world as a sacrifice to pay the debt of sin.  This seems like foolishness to the lost (God's Word tells us that).  But to those who have been redeemed they knew this unimaginable truth is...TRUE.  His grace is infinite...so He never tires of drawing us back to Him.  His grace is matchless.  Do you know anyone who would do what He has done.  NO.  Because not even giving a life for a life will effect salvation.  It may give life, but not eternal life. God's grace is like none other...matchless. And all of that is what makes His grace so marvelous.  I still marvel today that He would extend His grace to someone like me. 

Here's a better look at the tip-in.  I've attached it with washi tape on the right side so it opens to expose the Scripture underneath.  It was grace that taught my heart to sing...and sing these old hymns I did.  I'm glad I grew up on them.  I can embrace most of the contemporary music, but I'm grateful I have the words of these hymns hidden in my heart.  

How deep my debt...how great His grace.  That thought came to me as I worked on these pages.  When I think back at how many times in addition to my salvation that God has offered grace to me it is staggering.  I'm so not perfect!  I have wrong thoughts, motives.  I neglect God sometimes.  I fail to do what I know He would want me to do, think, be.  I still fall short of the glory of God.  Though I am redeemed, sealed and secure for all eternity, I still lack perfection.  So He offers grace upon grace (His mercies are new every day!), so that I become renewed, refueled, and redirected to go where He wants me to go, be what He wants me to be and do what He wants me to do.  I become more and more like Jesus each time He administers grace and I draw closer to Him.

I'm grateful for what Christ did on the cross.  It's good Friday to us now...but oh, my the agony for him!  GRACE...that's what drove Him to the cross and kept Him there until it was finished.  Grace, grace God's grace...thank God His grace is greater than ALL my sin!

Stamps Used:

 Decorative Banners

 Amazing God

Words of Life Collection 2

  Message of Hope

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