In Grace We Stand

Romans 5:1-2 is one of those brief passages that I've read many, many times but one small treasure gleamed and caught my eye on another reading.  I've just focused on other parts of the verse. But look at this..."Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

What struck me this time was the essence of grace in the life of the believer.  Grace isn't just something God dispenses as we repent.  We STAND IN GRACE.  Grace is a position we hold as a child of God.  Grace will not be withheld from the believer.  We are IN it...forever.  That is why His grace is sufficient.  His grace has covered everything necessary for our salvation.  I saw this as such a powerful part of the verse.  In grace we can stand and seize all God's treasures--life with Him forever, peace now in life and with God.  We don't have to come begging like a pauper.  We are already completely covered by His grace and that gives us the power to stand as victors!  I love it when Bible/Art journaling offers those beautiful moments when scripture comes alive all over again.

 

This is how my page started. I used my new jars of Distress Paints.  Oh, my! They are like melted butter.  LOVE them.  Then I did a little stenciling to add some texture.  Then I got out my Sweet 'n Sassy stash to see what I could find to help me share this amazing passage of scripture.

The verse is expressed in both stamped words/letters and hand-lettering.  All the stamps I used are listed below.

 I had a blast going back to some of my mixed media techiques to do this girl.  She is all from cut papers.  I didn't sketch it out...just started cutting so I'd get this totally casual artsy look to her.  Her hair is painted as is some of the light shading on her skin.  I used a Prisma pen to outline her last. The papers for her clothes are some from my stash.  Her flowers are stamped on painted paper then cut out.  The white outlining is the white sharpie paint pen also available through SNSS.

I can remember my preacher-daddy being so incredulous that people would actually resist God's grace.  My whole family soaked it up like a sponge and often needed more.  We caught a glimpse of how needy we were, how lost--were it not for grace. When we say "YES" to His amazing grace, we are at peace with God, reconciled and secure.  And that fact gives us peace in the here and now.

I hope this little nugget in scripture has given you a fresh look at grace and I hope my mixed media antics will give you some fun inspiration to try in your own art journals or Bibles.

Stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps:

• All of Me Alpha (stand)
• Amazing God (amazing)
• Choose Faith (grace)
• He is Worthy-(yellow flowers)
• Message of Hope (forever, live in His peace, and forever. 
• Note This (say yes to, right where He wants me, ampersand) 
• Seek Him (corner designs, arrows, small hearts)

 All of Me Alpha and Amazing God

 Choose Faith

 Message of Hope, He is Worthy, and Note This

 Seek Him

My Anchor Holds!

For any Christian, faith is a journey.  We gain ground and then we lose some.  As God proves Himself faithful, again and again, we learn to trust Him even when we don't understand.  Many of you here know the story of my dad's passing and the story of his faith.  You can read it on my FB page if you want.  As I was meditating on Scripture the other day, I stopped for awhile in James.  It reminded me of my dad's response when I shared with him the doctor's prognosis of terminal cancer.  With a steady assurance he set his face toward his new destination and replied, "So be it. My anchor holds."  His faith helped to increase our faith in the last days of his life. His faith inspired this art-journaling entry.

James 1:6 warns us against doubt.  I've read so many posts where people elevate doubt...as the norm for the Christian life.  Faith is a growing process but our growth should be a general incline from the first days of our salvation.  The believer is not to have doubts.  Doubting God is mistrust, and mistrust is sin.  That may be a bitter pill to swallow, but we must recognize our doubts and times of mistrust for what they are, confess them to God and ask Him to build our faith. 

I'm reminded of the story in Mark 9 where a father brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus for healing.  He wants Jesus to help him if he could.  That launches Jesus into a teachable moment to share that anything is possible with God.  The father is confronted with his doubt and confesses it to Christ, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"  Don't we have moments like that?  We simply have to come the Father will a full confession that we have doubted.  God is the author and finisher of our faith.  He gives it to us.  We don't manufacture faith.  He will willingly supply all the faith we need.  It was evident He well supplied my father as he faced his last days on this earth. 

Our faith is what anchors the soul.  Faith will see us through the storms of life.  It keeps us from being tossed about and becoming shipwrecked. 

When we learn to trust and not doubt our faith becomes bigger than we are.  It becomes a supernatural faith supplied only by the God of the universe.  Christ's faith through His Spirit comes to abide with us.  I believe THAT is faith enough!!

My father's faith was anchored in the Savior whom he loved more than life.  In his final days he trusted in his Lord and while dreading some of the physical experiences of dying, his faith in God did not falter.  

I want my faith to grow everyday.  I don't want to ever doubt the goodness and wisdom of my God. I know my Savior is with me and will complete my faith to the end. 

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I used a Sweet n Sassy Stamp, Choose Faith, for the left page.  I used SU ink pads for the sponging and Prismacolor pencils to color my hand-drawn images and to color in the open letters of the stamped word, FAITH. 

God of Hope

Good morning! I'm back today with another post on behalf of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps showcasing my project for the Creative Worship Design Team. 

The last few weeks in my family's life have been filled with hope...the certain kind of hope that comes from trusting God no matter what.  We had a near-devastating experience with the birth of my grandson.  I believe with all my heart the enemy had another plan but the prayers of so many family and friends inclined God's ear toward us.  We definitely saw His mighty hand of intervention.  Where the enemy planned death...God prevailed in bringing life to our family.  My grandson and precious daughter-in-law are doing well and little Lukas is even flourishing!  Thank you to all who prayed on our behalf!

Of course I had to share...I'm a grandmother!!!

The very first verse I wanted to journal upon returning home was Romans 15:13, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We felt first-hand how God is in command of the hope that fills our hearts as we trust in Him.  The more we surrendered to His will in all things, the more HOPE we gained.  Hope overcame anxiety, joy overcame tears, and God overcame death.  What a sweet personal picture of our hope in the cross of Christ and His redeeming work as we approach Easter!

I chose three Sweet 'n Sassy stamps from the Creative Worship Bible Journaling section of the store to visually depict this verse. 

 Amazing God                             His Wings

Choose Faith

I love all three of these sets because they offer so much versatility.  I can't art-journal fast enough!  This page in my Bible will always have a great deal of meaning to me.  The God of hope reached down and rescued our family from despair. 

All the text content in the margin is either stamped or hand lettered.  Colors on the page are sponged with SU ink or Tim Holtz Distress ink.  You can't see it real well here, but I also highlighted some of the lettering with my Spica Glitter Pens...I LOVE those things.  They add glitter to a page without the mess of glue/regular glitter which might brush off over time.  They come in a full array of colors.

If you have a moment, I'd love for you to visit my post on the Sweet 'n Sassy's Creative Worship blog.  It's a great place to visit because the other team members post some marvelous samples of journaling and card-making.  Hope you can come by!

May the God of hope fill your heart with joy and peace this week as you trust Him in every circumstance of life.  I pray He will take my humble efforts at art in my Bible to bless others with the majesty, power and grace He offers through His Word.