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

He Refreshes My Soul

One of the things I like best about Bible art-journaling is that God refreshes me through it.  It of course takes me into His Word, and if I ask for a place or a passage that God wants me to dwell on, He always delivers.  There is always something that leaps out and speaks to me in a new and fresh way.

A favorite verse of mine seemed perfect for what is called "mini-journaling."  I love the simplicity of it.  Mini-journaling focuses on the verse, not the art so much.  So the technique is to be very simple and small with the artwork.

Psalm 18:30, "As for God, His way is perfect," has been on a magnet on my refrigerator for as long as I can remember.  It's a great prompt every day to set my perspective on God and His plans and purposes for me.  The next part of the verse is, "The Lord's word is flawless." I believe that with all my heart.  There is no error in God's Word.  The sovereign God of the universe can certainly keep intact all that He wants recorded, all that He wants revealed to man.  It's preservation alone speaks to the power of God to ensure that His Word endures.  We can depend on His Word, for it is the full revelation of His story, His will. His way is perfect, ALWAYS! 

While I was working on illustrating Psalm 18:30, I continued reading and meditating on the next page.  It's a beautiful passage in the Psalms.  As always happens on nearly every page of Scripture, a verse or passage will leap up to grab my attention.

Psalm 19:7-8 expanded my featured verse on the previous page, "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making the wise simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart."  A flood of remembering washed over me, and I recalled the countless times I ran to God's work for refreshment, encouragement, wisdom and counsel.  God has answer my inquiries of Him again and again as I sought Him through prayer and His Word.  So I wanted to preserve this portion of scripture as well, and personalize it through illustration.

I used a cut out for an art-journaling mat.  First I created the background of color by inking some of my acrylic stamp blocks with ink and spritzing with water.  I placed the inked side of the block directly to the page.  By using different size blocks, you get a nice geometric look to the multi-colored background. 

I used Sweet 'n Sassy stamps (Message of Hope, Worship the Lord) for the decorative words, "Lord" and "Soul", and the rest is hand-lettered.  I felt like making this a very personal page.

Using the cut out as a tip-in, I could lift that up and continue more personal journaling underneath.  While the writing is brief, I spent a long time just remembering the many ways God had delivered me through His Word, or directly by His hand.  It was a beautiful time of worship.

After working on this page, I wondered what I had created on the other side by using so much ink and water on my blocks. And sure enough, there was quite a bit of bleeding.  Rather than being upset by that, I thought..."Another page background already done!"  So I set about studying the passage of scripture on THIS page...and that's when my worship/prayer time went even deeper.

David and I have been in a season of prayer while considering the possibility of another ministry opportunity.  David has felt called to the transitional pastor ministry for several years.  His skills and heart are well suited to go into a hurting church and help them heal and prepare for their next permanent pastor.  It can make all the difference for a pastor if he steps into a healthy church rather than a hurting or even dysfunctional one.  David had guided a church through the process over the last 2-1/2 years; the church called their new pastor and David preached his "farewell" sermon on March 20.  He had been invited to preach the next two Sundays at a church that was also without a pastor.  He was being considered as an interim pastor there.  Following his second sermon, we met with the search committee, and they went into prayerful deliberations following that.  We anticipated hearing back from them on Wednesday, April 6th or later.

Reading this section of scripture was so naturally a prayer.  And it quickly became my prayer for David.  I went line by line and prayed the heart of the prayer over David in regard specifically to the church who was also praying over him.  Not having another position right away would create some new financial challenges for us, so of course I prayed that God would meet our needs. If our help could come for that particular "sanctuary" it would be a double blessing, for we were certainly feeling positive about our being there.  I've long since learned that we cannot base our actions or decisions on feelings.  Those must be rooted in God's will as best as we can discern through HIS actions and Word.  As I read and prayed I felt He was confirming what He would do.  I knew that God would answer directly, that both the church and we would know what God's will was, and that He would make that will evident.  I knew it!  And I took such joy in knowing that God would move in the situation.  We would not have to lean on man's ways or plans, but that God was going to step in and take control of this situation.

Note again though the structure of this prayer in the psalms.  The latter part of chapter 20 is obviously a prayer, but chapter 21 begins with God's answer.  And I immediately knew God had already answered the prayer.  I am no prophet, and I can't see into the future.  But in these moments God confirmed to me that the answer would be HIS.  And I knew that whatever it was, we would find joy in it, that God would provide for us and care for us.  You'll note that I put a bracket around the answer, and journaled specifying that portion was God's answer.  I even dated it...the date we thought we'd hear from the committee.  But notice the date 4-6-16 is in pencil!  I thought that as certain as I was, perhaps God was moving just as certainly with the committee and we might hear sooner.  David preached and we met with the committee on 4/3.  I did this journaling early the morning of 4/4. The committee met early, and gave David their answer on 4/5!  Seeing God move in this way was THRILLING!

The final design/journaling work I did on this page was to record my confirmation.  I believe that God had already answered.  And through every circumstance was moving to confirm that with both the committee and with us.  I absolutely LOVE the way God works and can't even describe how excited we are to be following His lead to serve at this new church.

When we pray, we can all pray believing He has already done it!  God moves behind, beside and in front of us all the time.  He already knows His plan and we pray in concert with His Spirit and His Word, He will reveal himself to us.  That's just how God works!

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. 

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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