In the Palm of His Hands

One of the most comforting things when going through a storm in your life, is knowing that God is in control.
Psalms 95
Gods hand is in the deepest places of the earth, He created it all.
You are in the palm of his hand!
Sometimes we may feel like a tiny little boat in a huge swelling storm but remember that you and that storm are sitting in God's hands.

I thank God for being with me and taking care of me in the good and bad times.

Look Up

Colossians 3:2 set your affection on things above, not on the things on the earth. 

Are you looking up? Usually when we are in need, we are thinking of God praying to God and hopefully looking up! But what about when everything seems to be going perfectly? I wouldn't ever go as far to say my life is perfect. Ever. Not even close. I love my life and all the things in it, but spiritually I need a lot of work, I'm sure I always will. I still have times though that everything seems to go just right, I'm happy and good things are coming my way, but. Those are the most dangerous times, don't get caught off guard and find yourself focusing on all your earthly treasures. Focus on things above. 

No matter what circumstances we are in we need to LOOK UP! Remember what Jesus did for us, and most of all pray that you're staying in Gods will for you. 

Committed Like Ruth

Ruth Chapter 1 

Ruth made a big commitment to her mother-in-law after both of their husbands had passed. A commitment to stay with Naomi and to trust in her God. The world we live in now is much different than back then but we still have many commitments. 

Ruth stayed true to her commitments, have we stayed as true to ours? 

Make a list of all your commitments and promises -- in all areas of life.

Now go through and check all the ones you have 100% stayed true to.

If I'm being completely honest I don't feel like I'm 100% committed to everything on my list. It's not easy to be completely committed to things, but no one said it would be! 

Ruth never questioned her mother-in-law, she did everything she asked of her, because of that they were both blessed. Ruth was able to provide food for both of them, she soon got married and had a son, whom became the grandfather of Judah's greatest King, David!

Keep your list with you and do your best to stay true! 

Clothed in Strength & Honor

In Proverbs 31 we learn a lot about the "virtuous woman". All the characteristics she has are things we need to being doing as women of God! I've been wanting to watercolor these dresses for a while now and thought this verse was fitting for it. 

Strength and honor are her clothing, in an earlier verse we learn about her actual clothing but here we look at her inner clothes. She is strong and highly respected by others and completing Gods will for her she can rejoice in the future. 

Let your inner clothes be as beautiful as your real clothing! 

Bow of an Enemy

God loves us so much, he sent his son to die for our sins! But what about before Jesus walked the earth before he was even born? God handled sin a little differently back then. In Lamentations, chapter one Jerusalem is suffering from their sin, they have had a huge downfall, started worshiping false gods and idols and committing adultery, at the end of the chapter is a cry for sympathy, from Jeremiah, he feels Sorrowful for his people who have fallen to a dark lost place. In chapter 2 we read about Gods anger, " The Lord was an enemy he hath swallowed up Israel " 

God was so angry it was as if he were now Jerusalems enemy

He hath bent his bow as an enemy! 

Next was the cry for mercy, and God did have mercy on them as we last read in Lamentations chapter 3 ( my previous blog post ) 

Gods faithfulness is so great there are new mercies every morning! 

Because Jesus died for our sins, we are covered in his blood, have you ever heard/sang the hymn "washed in the blood by Jesus" we'll it's the truth! When we are saved and we still sin God sees we are washed in the blood and has mercy on us, he forgives us, but as we read in 3:19-21 we still remember the things we did to help not bring us back,and to have hope in The Lord! 

Just remember there are NEW MERCY EVERY MORNING. 

If you have trouble studying the bible and taking time to read it, you should definitely try out bible journaling, even if you can't paint or draw, you can use scrapbook stuff and clip art instead. From my experience, I used to have trouble really focusing on what I was reading until I started water coloring illustrations about what I was learning, it has completely changed my study method, and I have really learned so much! JUST TRY IT! 

Excited for Christ

Acts chapter 9 starting in verse 18, Saul becomes a new man. He treated Christians horribly and yet God wanted to use him to spread Gods word. Saul went from persecuting and imprisoning Christians, to being saved, baptized, and excited for Christ.
He didn't just go about normal everyday life after being saved, he was beyond happy.
He wanted to go out and share the truth about Jesus to everyone!
So why don't I do that? I was raised in church, have been saved since I was very young. Shouldn't I be excited about telling others the truth about Jesus?!?
It's our job to help spread the word of God, do it with joy!

My journaling page is done with water color, the gold lettering is a paint marker.

Refuge Under His Wings

>> Read Psalm 91

The more I read this chapter the more it became one of my favorites, I read it 3 times before I started this blog  entry, it wasn't till that third time that I truly realized the amazing-ness ( real word??) of Psalm 91! 

This entire chapter is all about GODS REFUGE. If you trust in God, he will be there with you protecting you. " He will cover you with his feathers, under his wings shalt thou trust " 

You have no reason to be afraid or anxious, God is always watching over. 

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee In all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in there hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

How incredible are those last to verses ( 11,12) God sets angels over us, even for something as silly as stubbing  your toe!! How precious we must be in God's eyes to have such protection. 

Don't however, misunderstand this chapter, yes God is always watching over you but that does not mean harm will never come to you. Sometimes, a lot of times, it's in Gods will for you to Go through trials and tribulations. Hard times. But what this chapter assures you is that even in those times God is with you to help you through it.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 

If you are ever afraid of stepping into something new God has for you, this is the perfect chapter to remember. 

Fishers of Men

When Jesus called the disciples to follow Him, they dropped everything to go with Him, they went everywhere with him and even after Jesus rose and went to heaven they kept spreading Gods word everywhere they went. 

We should be that way too! It's not just up to the preachers and leaders of our churches to spread the light it's up to ALL of us in everything we do. We need to be the light of the world!  

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. 

                                                 Mathew 5:14

God puts us in places he knows we can do something for him. 

He gives us each special talents, we all have different ways we can spread Gods word, God wants us to use those talents FOR HIS GOOD WILL, not to just hide and blend in with the world, we are to be fishers of men. 

SUPPLIES : For "fishers of men " I used,  acrylic paints, "precision pen" , stickers. 

For "light of the world" I used water colors.