Christ Is Risen

"But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid,

for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.

Come, see the place where he lay.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples

that he has risen from the dead,

and behold, he is going before you to Galilee;

there you will see him. See, I have told you."

Matthew 28:5-7

Most who read this post know the Easter story well. Today we observe Good Friday when Jesus was crucified and buried. We also know the story didn't end there. A lot can happen in 3 days, right? The resurrection changed human history forever. The verse I've illustrated certainly references all the essential elements of the Christian faith regarding Easter, but I want to focus on two tiny little nuggets in the passage.

1) "as he said."

2) "I have told you."

There is so much truth and power behind these two very short statement. Every minute detail of the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled prophecy. It happened exactly as God planned. Jesus knew the plan. He knew the plan when He shaped the earth, when He flung stars and galaxies into the universe. He knew the whole plan you before you were born and you were a part of that plan. He already loved you enough to die for you.

 

 

As the eternal Christ, Jesus inspired the book of Isaiah. He knew when He entered Jerusalem He would fulfill the prophecies of within the pages of scripture. He knew every torment He would experience. He knew their plan for Him, but we know He had a bigger plan...one that could not be foiled. Jesus loved you enough--before you were even born, before generations before you were born--to go through the agonies of the cross. He was willing because He knew the end. He knew the end would be only the beginning.

Everything happened exactly

as he said.

And He's written it all down so you would know

he has told you.

When we celebrate Easter, we not only rejoice in what our Savior did to effect our salvation, we affirm that Jesus was the One prophesied; that what happened to Him happened with intention so the prophecies would be fulfilled to the tiniest detail. When we understand that everything happened exactly as He said it would, we can rest assured that the entire Bible is true and it will happen just as he has told you.

Art Details:

This was a really simple page to complete. I splashed on two tones of green to create a partial background. The flowers were stamped on cardstock, watercolor painted then fussy cut and adhered to the page. The words are stamped using sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Watercolor paints are from Jane Davenport and Illustrated Faith. 

 

 Birds and Blooms

 

 Lynzee Script

 

 His Name

Why I Sing for Joy!

"...my mouth will praise you with joyful lips

when I remember you upon my bed, 

and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 

for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.  

My soul clings to you; 

your right hand upholds me."

Psalm 63:5-8

Think back to something God has done...something that would not have happened had it not been for his intervention, guidance, presence or power.  We can name many instances, can we not?  Psalm 63 is one of my favorite, and there are actually several portions of it that could be highlighted.  It is so rich! But I've chosen these verses for the joy they bring as I meditate upon them remembering God's goodness and many, many mercies toward me.  

What a wonderful place to abide...in the shadow of God's wings...under his protective and watchful eye, close to his heart.  That alone is great reason to be joyful.  As believers we are blessed with this close position to God through his grace alone.  He has invited us to be in relationship and the benefits of that relationship are like no other.  No doubt we can recount story after story of when he was our help.  Once we trust in God's son, Jesus, we desire a close, abiding relationship...we literally CLING to Jesus.  

During many nights I could feel his right hand holding me close, holding me tightly, reassuring...steady...strong.  Who wouldn't cling to that, right?  God often wakes me in the "watches of the night" to pray for someone, to commune with him, to search his Word for wisdom and help.  I feel especially close to him at night.  I know he watches over me, protects me, and prepares the day in front of me so I will see him working on my behalf. 

One of the many reasons I sing for joy, is that I know my God defends me, fights for me.  I know there have been numerous times the enemy would creep into my night seeking to frighten, discourage, and bring despair.  But God fought for me.  There have been times in my life when people...people whose hearts were bent toward evil and destruction came against me.  I LOVE the passage in Psalm 64 on the facing page.  Here David describes enemies coming against him, setting traps of ambush, shooting arrows with bitter lies and destructive words.  I've known people like this.  Being in full-time ministry places you in enemy territory many times.  People will gnash their teeth against those proclaiming the gospel and reaching the lost for Christ.  My husband, a pastor, and I have experienced warfare many times.  But God has come to our defense in every single instance.  We see him dealing with those who come against us.  We don't have to do a thing but trust in him.  What a cause for joy!  

I pray that you find shelter under the wing of the Most High God, that you find many reasons to remember and celebrate with joy the times he has come to your aid, upheld you with his right hand.  Knowing he has been there for us, faithfully providing and protecting, gives us full assurance he will ALWAYS be there for us.  And that indeed is a reason to sing for joy!

Sets Used: 

His Wings

       

                                          His Name                                     Note This

The Name Above Every Name

I used to teach a Bible study I developed called "Journey through the Bible."  I taught it for several years when I was on church staff where my husband was pastor at the time.  The class was a study of the entire Bible--we read every word! The time I spent studying and preparing for our journey was an amazing time in God's Word.  I would come to each teaching session so inspired and so excited to share something new and amazing I'd found.  Participants in the class often laughed at my enthusiasm over so many FAVORITE passages of Scripture.  I came to the conclusion you just simply can't fragment the Bible. It is a cohesive whole.  You can always connect dots and that just excites me. 

The verse I chose to illustrate for my Creative Worship team submission is from Philippians (my husband happens to be preaching through it now!). It connects to two other amazing passages. Read this verse, Philippians 2:9-11, then John 18:5-6 (note too that when he answers the question asked, he actually responds, "I am." The "He" has been translated into the text). Finally read Revelation 19:12.  The name of Jesus.  It is powerful enough to bring everyone to their knees!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 

There is no other name with that kind of power.  The soldiers couldn't stand in the Garden of Gethsemane; they fell to their knees.  Can you just picture that powerful moment?  Jesus answers, "I am" and everyone drops, even the unbelievers.  And in Revelation we find that He will be given a new name.  No one knows it now but when he speaks it, the force will be like a blast from a furnace.

There are only a few words I hand lettered.  The rest of the words are from either His Name--a soon to be released set--or All of Me Alpha (NAME) from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps. 

I used gelatos for the first time on this page.  Yes, I need more!  I LOVE them.  You can get an amazing watercolor splash, and they don't wrinkle your page as much as watercolor paints. Nor do they bleed at all. I even did some finger painting with them.  I colored directly to the page and rubbed it around to distribute the color.  I used a micron pen to outline and accent the words, and SU inks to stamps all the words. 

His Name

Coming Soon! Don't you LOVE it.  Don't you NEED it?

All of Me Alpha

Hidden in Christ

This journal entry was prompted by a couple of online challenges I wanted to accept.  One from Splitcoast Stampers was to create the project around the theme of LIFE. And the second was to design with the color scheme of orange and lime green.  WOW....so not my colors.  But the purpose of challenges is to take you out of your style zone to try new and different things. To step up to these challenge I decided to merge them

Colossians 3:2-4 says:  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

If you let that passage settle over you like I did, God will speak to you through it.  It's powerful.  You could literally pull it apart and digest the smaller phrases and build a vivid blueprint for living!  But for the theme, LIFE, I really focused in on the phrase, "your life is now hidden with Christ in God."  What does that mean?  

As I child I played with other neighborhood children outdoors a lot, and one of our favorite games was hide and seek.  The seeker would close his/her eyes, and everyone would go find a place to hide.  It had to be a good place, one that would be hard to discover.  There was such an excitement about hiding.  What made the game so delightful was to think of the best hiding place, a place no one would think of, no one would guess.  When I was about twelve, I found the best hiding place of all.  I found Jesus!  

 

I certainly didn't think of Him as a hiding place, but as I grew and had more and more occasions to run to Him, He indeed became a often sought after hiding place.  Now, as Christians we are not to remain hidden from the world.  That's not what this verse describes.  The amazing truth of this scripture is more about where our minds and hearts are to abide.  We are to reside within the hiding place of Christ's identity.  It means having the mind of Christ--"set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."  To be constantly sheltered by the heavens is an amazing thought.  Our home is not here.  We are to constantly be focused on Christ, His presence now, and what He has prepared for us in heaven.  

The more I thought about what it meant to truly be hidden in Christ, worship began.  I thanked God for all the ways He had kept me hidden in His heart. From this time of worship another page was born.  I started thanking God for each of the ways He hid me in His love and power.  Because I am hidden in Christ, I am...(see the "bubbles"). 

 And the wonderful conclusion is, through the hiding place of Christ, I know I BELONG!  I am His, in His family.  I am His beloved child.  Adopted. Chosen.  When you ponder the words on this page and realize all that Christ gives when we hide in Him, when you really FEEL those words are true for you, description of your life, a flood of thanksgiving, praise and real worship will pour over your soul.  

Praise God I'm dead to my old self and that I have been raised in Christ to a new life, a new hope and a new future.  It's wonderful to be hidden in Christ.  I never want to come out from that hiding place!

Here's a quick rundown of how I did my page:

• I used watercolor paints to brush stripes down the page.  I like using a medium that allows the words of scripture to still be visible.   The stripes are highlighted with Tim Holtz Distress Crayons...more about those in a future post. 
• I doodled around the entire page and around the verse to highlight the focal passage.
• The words on the left and images are all stamped with Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: His Name, Message of Hope and He is Worthy, Majestic Monarchs (some are coming soon, so this is a bit of a sneak peek).
• I stamped the flowers and butterflies, cut them out then colored with watercolor paint and the distress crayons. 
• The right page is all sponging.  I have some large, round sponges I used to achieve the bubbles (SU-Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss inkpads) then I just sponged in around the circles with a smaller sponge using SU Pumpkin Pie inkpad.   
• The lettering on the right page is hand done. 

 Thanks for stopping in!  I love having you here.