Creative Bible Journaling - June Pages Part Two

Come along with me each month as I journal my way through the Bible.  I'm not artistic at all, so you won't see beautiful illustrations and calligraphy, but what you will see is what I gleaned from the scriptures every day and how I creatively journaled what I have learned in the margins of my Inspire Bible.

In last month's Bible Journaling post  I mentioned I had way too many Bible Journaling posts for June and very few for July and August, so I decided to divide the month of June into two separate posts and then combine my July and August posts into one.  Ah, the life of a gardener,  certain seasons we are very busy.   Now is a gardener's very busy season:   Harvest time!  But in other seasons we just sit and dream!

Now, onto the last of my June pages, shall we?  

My first page I created to illustrate Isaiah 40:26.    The theme of Isaiah 40 is "Comfort and Strength for God's People".  Isaiah was trying to get the people to see the greatness of God by seeing His glory in creation.  I must admit, anytime I have my doubts about God's inability to solve a problem in my life, all I have to do is take a little walk in nature and see His magnificent handiwork everywhere.  Suddenly my problems seems so small and insignificant because if could create "all this", surely He can handle my issues.

To make this page I painted the background with several different shades of craft paint.  I stamped stars and diamonds in the background and then used a mixture of stamps and my own handwriting for the verse.

Here is another page that shows how nature reveals God's glory.

To make this page, I colored in the background with a marker, then I added a die cut rainbow.  I hand wrote the Bible verse, and added a piece of ephemera from my "Worthy of Worship" kit from Illustrated Faith.

I had so much fun making this page!  I read this verse, and then I just immediately thought of all the strange and interesting creatures God has made for us to enjoy.

To make this page, I painted the background green and used a combination of stamps and my own handwriting for the verse.  The "creatures" are 3D stickers.  I also painted some white dots in the background.

Here is a page that I created that is combination of notes, Bible study, and a verse illustration.  There's no rules in Bible journaling, you can do whatever the Lord leads you.  It doesn't always have to be pretty illustrations, sometimes it can just be notes or notes illustrated in an attractive way.

On this page I am illustrating a theme from my devotional that came with my "Worthy of Worship".  In that devotional, the author went through all the different ways in our lives we can worship God.  One way is to worship God with our testimony.  Simply share with others what God has done for us.  But the most traditional way to worship God, is to praise Him when we are assembled with our brothers and sisters in Christ (as seen in Psalm 22:22).

In addition to notes and verses on what it means to "Worship with your testimony" I also wrote some notes on a "Reminder" ephemera card about what it means to rest in the Lord, based on Psalm 23:2.

To make this page, I painted the background with craft paint and added little white dots.  I hand wrote all  my notes and the Bible verse.  The "Smile Jesus Loves You" and "Reminder" are ephemera from the "Worthy of Worship" kit.  The flowers are die cuts.

Keeping with the theme of "Worship with your testimony", my next page illustrates to give thanks to God, proclaim His greatness, and tell the ENTIRE WORLD what He has done!  Wow! That's a tall order!

To make this page I painted the background with bright pink craft paint.  The rainbow is ephemera from the "Worthy of Worship" kit.  The globe and people is a stamp, that I colored in, cut out, and adhered to the page.  The flower is a die cut.  I used a mix of stamps and my own handwriting for the verse.

Another reminder from God that He wants us to tell others about Him.  Worship with your testimony!

To make this page I painted the background with green craft paint then painted in a little background design with blue craft paint.  I stamped the Bible verse.  The "Kingdom Carrier" and "Smiley Face" are ephemera from the "Worthy of Worship" kit.  The yellow flower is a die cut.

This last page is the same verse as Psalm 105 above, but in a different book!  How interesting is that?  This author was most likely quoting the psalm.  

To make this page, I adhered a piece of pink designer paper in the margin and painted some white dots.  The flowers and hearts are ephemera from the "Worthy of Worship" kit.  The verse is a combination of stamps and my own handwriting.

 I hope my Bible journaling pages inspired you this month to get out and tell others about Jesus!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Creative Bible Journaling - April Pages

Come along with me each month as I journal my way through the Bible.  I'm not artistic at all, so you won't see beautiful illustrations and calligraphy, but what you will see is what I gleaned from the scriptures every day and how I creatively journaled what I have learned in the margins of my Inspire Bible.

I've got just a few pages to share with you this month.  I don't know what happened, I know I read my Bible everyday, but I just must not have journaled as much.  Now next month, I have a ton of pages!

During the month of April I spent my time in the book of Psalms...the EASIEST book in the Bible to journal in.  

In Psalm 63 David says God's "love is better than life itself".  Do you believe that?  Do you love God more than life itself?  I think I do.  But when I am put to the test, during a time where I am even wondering where God is, will I believe this?  I hope and pray so.

To make this page, I put a piece of designer page in the margin then I put a light coat of white craft paint over it to tone down the design so that the words could be more easily seen.  I used stamps for all the words, adding a die cut heart around the word "love" to emphasize it.  Finally, I colored in some of the flowers in the designer paper with pink and yellow craft paint.

This next page is so important in the Christian life.  So many Christians pray and don't receive answers, wondering why God doesn't hear the prayer.  There could be many reasons for that, but one could be unconfessed sin.  We must always go to God with a clean heart in prayer and confess our sins.  But if you have confessed your sins and still feel God isn't listening, just be patient.  God always answers our prayers.  I once heard a speaker say "there are always three answers to a prayer:  "not yet", "yes", or "no, I've got something better in mind."

To make this page, I first applied a sheet of pink paper in the margin and then used a combination of stamps and my own hand writing for the verse.  The praying man was a free image off the Internet.  The heart is a die cut.  I added some white paint dots for embellishment. 

What a joyful verse this next one is!  Yes, let's rejoice!  No matter what is going in our lives or in our world, lets "be glad in God's presence" and "be filled with joy".  I know it can be so hard during difficult times to be joyful.  But we have a beautiful, miraculous future to look forward to!  It's during hard times that we really must focus in on the Lord, and soak up His presence.  It helps to take our minds off our circumstances.

I love to listen to news Podcasts, I could play them all day long.  But somedays, the negativity really gets me down and that's when I say "Enough!"  I turn it off, and turn on some worship music instead, and before long my focus has changed.  I have entered His Presence, and I'm singing, and happy, and praising the Lord.  

To make this page, I once again used white craft paint to tone down the designer paper.  Then I used a variety of stamps for the Bible verse and added paper flowers for embellishment.

I love this verse and the image I found on the Internet.  Jesus is the shepherd who watches over and cares for his sheep...you and I!  The word says "each day He carries us in His arms!"  Isn't that incredible?  When you wake up in the morning, expecting a bad day because of some reason or another, remind yourself of this verse.  Jesus is carrying you!  Give the load to Him!

To make this page I painted the margin with green craft paint then using a mixture of stumps and my own handwriting I wrote the verse.  The image was found on the Internet.  I simply printed it and colored it in.

David had to wait quite awhile to see his prayers answered, but he never stopped praying and he always praised God through the trials.  He consistently felt God's love and mercy through the most difficult times while he waited for the answer.  We can do that too!  Just because we're going through hard times and it seems our prayers are going unanswered, doesn't mean we still can't feel His loving presence in our lives.

I have a friend going through a very painful cancer, but the comfort He gets from the Lord amazes me.  He recently said "God is good, no matter our circumstances.  His character remains the same...the God of all comfort".  Despite my friend's physical suffering, he is getting spiritual comfort from the Lord and he is being an encouragement and an inspiration of faith to us all.

For this page, I painted the background with different shades of craft paint.  The sentiment was done with a variety of stamps, stickers, and my own handwriting.  The praying girl is an image off the Internet that I printed and colored in.

And for my last page I have another joy-filled Bible verse.  Becoming a believer is almost always a search filled process.  When you hear believers testimonies, most of them tried everything else the world had to offer first, as if they are searching for something to fill them but they're looking in all the wrong places.  Here David acknowledges that search, and asks God to fill them with "Joy and Gladness".

To make this page, I used a variety of stamps and stickers for the sentiment, underlining a few key words.  I used stamps for the flowers and colored them in with pencils.  I sponged some blue on the border.  I made a mistake stamping the word "Gladness" so to fix it, I just stamped the word on another piece of paper and put in on top.  It kinda makes the word "Gladness" stand out more.  It's an example of how are Bible Journaling mistakes can be fixed.

 I hope you enjoyed my Bible Journaling pages this month!  

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Creative Bible Journaling - March Pages

Come along with me each month as I journal my way through the Bible.  I'm not artistic at all, so you won't see beautiful illustrations and calligraphy, but what you will see is what I gleaned from the scriptures every day and how I creatively journaled what I have learned in the margins of my Inspire Bible.

I've been working my way through an old devotional of mine where you read the Bible in four years.  I like that more than one year Bible reading plans because I feel you can do a more in-depth study.  In the month of March I finished the book of 2 Samuel and then the devotional author took me back to Psalms.

My first page I created to illustrate the story of how David lost his first born child with Bathsheba because of his sin.  What struck me most about this chapter was when Nathan asked David "Why, then, have you despised the Word of the Lord and done this horrible deed?"  I never really considered that when we sin we are despising God's Word.  

For my next page, I mediated on the story of how David still lost his child, even though he was repentant.  Just because God forgives us, doesn't mean there still won't be consequences of our sin.  For example,  people who abuse food, drugs, or alcohol can have affects on their body that will last the rest of their lives, and/or relationships affected by sinful behavior may never be again what they once were.

Another part of this passage was how David still worshipped the Lord, even though his prayer to save his son went unanswered.  That is a difficult, yet important thing to do, for it shows we put our trust in Him and His will. 

The story of David and Amnon is a sad one.  Amnon committed a horrible sin against his half-sister, but instead of addressing it, David ignored it, which resulted in more tragedy.  We must never ignore sin in our own lives, or in the lives of our loved ones.  We must address it and conquer it in God's strength.

I further illustrated this story by using a verse from Ephesians.  David's other son, Absalom was furious with his brother's treatment of his sister and he was provoked to anger because his father did nothing about it.  

David is brought low from his inactivity to discipline his own sons.  He has to flee for his life from his own kingdom and while he is down and out he is cursed from a villager.  David could have had his guards kill the man for his hateful words, but instead he humbled himself and was willing to hear what God might say to him through a cursing critic.  The story reminded me of the verse in James 4:  "Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up."  It's hard not to defend yourself when criticized, or attack back.  

Bible Journaling isn't always pretty pictures.  Here I wrote some notes from a Bible commentary to help me understand this chapter.

For the next two pages I did both:  created a pretty page, but then added in some bible commentary notes to help me more deeply grasp the scriptures.

David's throne was eventually restored to him, but at the cost of his son's life.  The Lord had once again rescued him.

I really got a chuckle over the verse "There happened to be a troublemaker there..."  so I created a page all about how I shouldn't be a trouble maker.  Unfortunately we all have known people who are trouble makers.  I'm sure I have been one myself many times.  God desires us to be peacemakers, not trouble makers, so I wrote a little prayer to God asking Him to help me to be a peacemaker.  Then I added some Bible Commentary notes about the chapter and a Bible verse of how we should not devise evil, but be counselors of peace.

I absolutely love it when I can use paint in my Bible.  Here I created a sunrise using craft paint then I stamped and hand wrote a verse over it.

For my next page, I stamped and hand wrote a verse from Chapter 23 on top and then added some notes about Chapter 24 on the bottom.  Some times when I read my Bible, the story doesn't always make sense to me.  So I read a Bible Commentary on the chapter to help explain it.  "Enduring Word Bible Commentary" is my favorite.  Here I struggled understanding why David was taking a census and not listening to the word of God or his advisors.  Was it due to pride or lack of trust in the Lord that David needed to know if he had enough of a fighting force to conquer a neighboring nation?

For this page I just wrote some notes on how David had a sensitive heart and I should pursue one too.  David was not sinless, but he had a sensitive heart to sin.

I painted the background using craft paint.  Then I wrote some notes on the history of the threshing floor to help me understand the story.

After I finished reading 2 Samuel is was back to the book of Psalms to pick up where I left off.  The book of Psalms is the easiest of all the books in the Bible to illustrate, and for me, one of the most enjoyable.

 I hope you were inspired with God's Word today!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Creative Bible Journaling - February Pages

Come along with me each month as I journal my way through the Bible.  I'm not artistic at all, so you won't see beautiful illustrations and calligraphy, but what you will see is what I gleaned from the scriptures every day and how I creatively journaled what I have learned in the margins of my Inspire Bible.

In the month of February,  I finished the book of Job, went through some Psalms, and started the book of 2 Samuel.

For my first page, I used acrylic paints to paint a mountain scene.  I used a combination of stickers and my own hand writing for the verse.  I added some white highlights using a gel pen to the verse because I thought it got lost in the mountain scape.  Finally, I added some ephemera from a bible journaling kit and then I added an arrow with some notes.

I chose a mountain scene to illustrate the power of God.  So much of the book of Job is describing how all-knowing and powerful God is by using nature metaphors.  Mountains represent majesty and magnificence to me.

Here God Himself answers Job by asking him if he is as strong as Him and referring to His voice as thunderous;  so I illustrated a stormy night with acrylic paints.  I hand wrote most of the sentiment but added a few alphabet stickers for emphasis.

When I read the verse about Job seeing God I was reminded of what Jesus said in the book of John, so I hand wrote both verses on my page highlighting the word "Believed", because that is more important.  It sure would be awesome to see Jesus with our own eyes (and we will someday soon!), but we are more blessed to never have seen and yet have FAITH that He is real.

This is one of the most well known verses in scripture, in fact it was made into a chorus and I remember singing it all the time in late 80's/90's.  I painted a natural background then I hand wrote the verse and added a die cut of a deer.

Here I used an image of a lighthouse to illustrate the word "light".  I simply cut it out, colored it in, and glued it to the page.  I hand painted the background using paint and used a combination of stickers, stamps, and my own hand writing for the verse.

Today the Holy Bible is our light, God's truth, that guides our daily lives. 

I love this verse.  It means so much to me right now when I observe all the injustice going on in the world.  I am comforted that heaven is just, and that someday soon Jesus will set up His kingdom here on earth and He will rein and finally everything will be set right.

Only in God's power and name can we defeat our enemies.  Here I just took the verse and added small illustrations of the words.  I used a lightning bolt to represent "power" and a cross to represent the "name" of Jesus.

In my "Enduring Hope" Bible Journaling kit from "Illustrated Faith" I received so many pretty photo cards of flowers.  I've been using them as backgrounds for my pages if the margin in my Bible is wide enough.  Thankfully, the Psalms has nice wide margins so I was able to use a lot of them in there.  

Nature, especially beautiful flowers, represent "praise" to me.  Tulips are one of my favorite flowers.  I love how they open up in the sunshine, as if they are praising God, arms outstretched.  

I decided to invest in several new alphabet stamps since I have given up on my calligraphy skills.  Hobby Lobby had some on clearance, so I was able to pick up quite a few sets.  This page is mostly alphabet stamps with just a little bit of my own hand-writing.  The stamps really make your page prettier if you are not a good calligrapher.  

To make this page I added some floral ephemera to the top of the page, and then even though the word "peace" is not directly in this verse, I added it to my page (again using ephemera) because this is a verse that can give me "peace".  As I wrote in the margins "I can have peace during these troubled times because He will take care of me if I call on Him".

God desires us to be broken and repentant of our sins.  He will never reject us if we come to him with a broken spirit and confess our sins.  

For this page I highlighted lots of words in different ways but the most creative way was to take a white gel pen over the word "Broken" and make it look like the word was broken.  I also added some hearts to represent the condition of the heart God desires.

I love the way this page turned out.  I simply painted a background, then added an image that I printed off the Internet, colored in, and cut out.  Once again I used a combination of stamps for the sentiment.  I added a "He Restores My Soul" stamped image to cover up a boo-boo, but don't worry, it lifts up so I can still read the scripture underneath.

Because David had the right heart attitude and was obedient to God, the Lord was with him and blessed David and Israel.  There were times in his life when David sinned, he wasn't perfect, and unfortunately both him and Israel suffered the consequences. 

This "king" image was once again printed off the Internet, colored in, and cut out.  I used stamps and my own handwriting for the sentiment.

There were some extra "kingly" images included with the image of the king above, so I used them to illustrate this verse.

And finally, another floral photo from my "Enduring Hope" kit that I used for a background.  Not all Bible Journaling pages have to be just an illustration of one verse.  Here I wrote some notes of how I could relate to David on one issue, and added some highlights of how I feel with stamps and ephemera.

 I hope you were inspired by God's Word today!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Creative Bible Journaling - January Pages

Come along with me each month as I journal my way through the Bible.  I'm not artistic at all, so you won't see beautiful illustrations and calligraphy, but what you will see is what I gleaned from the scriptures every day and how I creatively journaled what I have learned in the margins of my Inspire Bible.

I really did a lot of Bible Journaling pages last month.  The winter months are perfect for spending a lot of time in God's word!  I did a whopping 22 pages!  Because I have so many pages to show you,  I'm gonna make my commentary on each page very brief and let the page speak for itself.

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All but this page are in the book of Job.  I must have forgotten it in last month's Bible Journaling post.

This is a page of the last chapter of 1 Samuel.  I used my "Enduring Hope" ephemera  to illustrate some thoughts and notes I had on this chapter.  1 Samuel 31 is the end of the King Saul's reign and shows how God started to clear the way for David to become the next king.  It also shows how God always has "mighty warriors" waiting in the wings to carry out his will.

The rest of my pages are all in the book of Job.  This is a page I created in response to how we should treat our hurting brothers and sisters in Christ, instead of how sadly Job's "friends" treated him.

In Job 17 I was reminded of how our prayers don't get answered in our own timeline and that we have to "worship in the wait".   The victory will come in endurance.

On my next page I just hand wrote some notes from the Enduring Word Bible Commentary that really resonated with me.

Job begged his friends to have mercy on him during this difficult time.  I used sticker outlines to write the main thought "have mercy" and then I added some notes on a ticket die.  

This is probably the most famous verse in the book of Job, there's even an amazing Christian song by Nicole C. Mullen based on this verse.

In Job 21,  Job asks his friends to "Listen closely". so I built a page around listening to suffering Christians and then hand wrote a verse from James 1:9 about being "quick to listen".

Even though Job's friends were judgemental and not very kind, they did have some awesome things to say about God, like this verse:

Another beautiful verse about God.

Even though Job got depressed and questioned where God was in all this, he never sinned against Him.

Here I used ephemera from my "Illustrated Faith" kit "Enduring Hope" to illustrate how God's Word is wisdom, which is manna for our souls.

For this page I took a statement Job made about his previous life and added some personal notes about how when we help others, we are blessed.

For me, most of the book of Job is about him wanting answers from God, but never really getting them.  In my own life, I often feel frustrated when prayers go unanswered.  But then I am reminded that there is a never not an answer to prayer but it's either 1) Yes, 2) No, or 3) Not yet, or "I have something else in mind for you".

This is a page I created after reading a commentary on Job 31.

More of Job wanting answers, of which he repents of in Chapter 42.

A beautiful verse on God the creator.

Oh, I struggle so much with wickedness and evil being done in the word and not seeing justice.  But Job 34:21 reminds me that God does see everything.  I then made a checklist of things to fully surrender over to God that really make me fume!

Hebrews 12:4-11 explains that sometimes God disciplines us through adversity so that we can share in His holiness.  We may not always understand why troubles come our way, but one thing we can always ask ourselves is "What can I learn from this situation?"

One of the most incredible things to me about the book of Job is that it is the oldest book in the Bible yet has modern scientific statements in it.  I mean how did they know about how it rains in 37:27?  

A pretty page for a pretty verse!  Often when I'm down and out, just getting out in nature and seeing all of God's handiwork cheers me up!

I love this verse because I really feel that when there are issues or problems in my life that the Bible doesn't have a clear answer for,   the Holy Spirit gives us guidance.

 I hope you enjoyed my very long Bible Journaling post this month.  Next month, will not be so lengthy, I promise.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!