At the end of April I shared that I was wrapping up coloring and reading My Winter Devotional Coloring Book "Cozy Moments to Calm Your Heart" and that I would be going back to my spring/summer devotional on the book of Psalms. I have been working through this book called "Bless the Lord, O My Soul" for two years now. It is designed to be completed in one year, but I don't have full devotionals on weekends and as I previously stated, I switch books in the fall.
So here we are. Back in the book of Psalms. I have been devouring the book of Psalms lately not just in this book, but also in my "The Bible Recap" daily plan on the Holy Bible App. This is a plan where you read the entire bible in one year; I'm doing it with my church. The book of Psalms is exactly where I need to be right now. I have found the words so comforting and let's just say I can relate to King David feelings of hurt and betrayal as his desire for God to vindicate him. For those of you who have read my previous devotional posts where I shared the hurts caused by extended family members, I am still struggling. I have good days and bad days. Some days I hardly think about them at all, and other days it just comes raging back like a flood. I have been devouring God's word, praying, playing worship music, and going to the alter for prayer at church every chance I get. I keep praying to be delivered from the pain that these people who call themselves Christians, (one is even a current senior pastor) have caused me and my family, but so far, I'm still stuck. But I wanted to thank all of you who have sent me emails or wrote a comment, your support, prayers, and understanding mean everything to me.
On to God's word, here is my first page:
I Cry Aloud to God
God has certainly been hearing a lot of my cry lately. The Bible says "He Will Hear Me". I know I will be healed of this pain. I know God will do something.
We Give Thanks
Giving thanks, even when prayer goes unanswered, even when you're in the middle of the trial, giving thanks is so important. We must remember His past "wondrous deeds" in our lives to remind ourselves that He will do something "wondrous" in our current situation too!
This verse is similar to the previous one. We have to count our blessings from God, and not just in our lives, but in all our generations. We need to tell our children and grandchildren the wondrous things God has done for us, so they in turn will tell their children, and so on and so on.
Arise, O God
How many of you are like me and just can't wait for Jesus to come back and set things right again? There is so much evil, so much hurt, so much pain. When Jesus returns, all that will end for He will rule with an iron scepter (Revelation 19:15). There will be no more suffering and pain.
I remember singing this verse as a song at church years ago "Better is One Day" by Matt Redman. If you're unfamiliar with it the theme is that one day in God's courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. So, so true!
The images of this page reminded me of peacocks so I chose the colors of the peacock when I colored it in.
Singing is so important when going through a trial. Playing worship music when thoughts come through my head that are not worth dwelling on, is a great way for me to focus my mind on God and remember His past faithfulness.
Satisfy Us in the Morning
I normally love to color birds, but these were the ugliest birds I ever did see, which resulted in my poor coloring. So excuse my bird coloring, as I don't think there was any other way to color them to make them look pretty 😂
Psalm 90:14 is a prayer for God's grace to refresh the soul daily. Boy, do I need that, do you? The psalmist asks God to provide deep spiritual fulfillment at the start of the day so that he can experience lasting joy and gladness regardless of his circumstances. Sometimes having devotionals in the morning can be so difficult with our schedules. I have my devotionals in the morning during the winter months, but in the summer I have to switch it to afternoon as I need to get out and be in the garden early before it gets too hot. But I can still play worship music while out in the garden to focus my thoughts on God, or better yet, just listen to the birds sing and marvel at His glory in creation.
Mightier than the Waves of the Sea
Have you ever watched waves crash against a shore and just be amazed at the power? In some places the waves are so strong that through the years they cut out holes in the rock like at the Apostle Islands in Bayfield Wisconsin. Well, our God is mightier than those waves! He is more powerful than personal crisis, illness, or life storm. And if He is more powerful, He has the ability to bring peace and stability to whatever situation you are in.
And that concludes the pages I have done from "Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul". Next, I want to show you some Bible Journaling pages from my new Bible "Inspire Prayer". If you remember in last month's devotional post I had some difficulty with smudging, ruining the pages of my brand new Bible, well, this month I can share two completed pages that are smudge free! Thanks to some tips from my long-time blogging bud Ellie, I switched to different pencils plus I kept a sheet of card stock in-between my pages for a long time. Ellie suggested I use Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils which she claimed smudged the least, so I purchased a large set on Amazon. I don't like them as much as I like my Prismacolor Pencils or Castle Art Pencils (those color more smoothly, like gel), but heh, if the Faber Castell don't ruin my Bible pages, I love it! I will probably only use the Faber Castell pencils in my Bible and save the Prismacolor and Castle Arts for everything else. All the devotional pages I've shown you above were done with Prismacolor Pencils.
Anyway, onto my Bible Journaling pages. The Inspire Prayer Bible always starts each book of the Bible with a header page, highlighting one main verse from that book. 2 John 1:6 is a good reminder that if we say we love God, we have to do what he has commanded us and one of those commandments is to love one another. That's a hard one to swallow isn't it? It's hard to love those who don't love us, or who treat us poorly. Love is not just an emotion, but an action. True love requires following God's teachings. I think one of the reasons I have been struggling so much with this family issue is because I truly loved and cared for this person(s) and to find out how little they cared about me to do something so awful, so hateful, so deceptive, is just shocking to me. I think if I had not cared at all about them, this wouldn't bother me so much. So what do I do now? How do you continue to love someone who hurt you so deeply and refuses to admit any wrongdoing and wants no attempt at reconciliation or restorative justice? I don't know, and that is why I just keep praying, keep singing, keep reading the word, and keep going to the alter. I don't know, but God knows.
John's primary goal in writing is to share the Gospel message so that the community of believers can experience the same vibrant, boundless joy that He has in Christ. I kinda know the feeling John is describing. I have two children who are also "following the truth". There's nothing that matters more to me than to see my children, and prayerfully someday my grandchildren, serve and love the Lord. I have experienced the pain of having a wayward child for a short season, but I also experienced great joy to see that same child come back to God. Nothing matters more, nothing gives me greater joy.
I hope you enjoyed my Bible Journaling pages, scripture, and personal reflections I have shared today. I appreciate you all so much, and I covet your prayers and encouraging words. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please continue to pray for me. Everyday, gets a little better with the passage of time, but my dream would be for God to do a miracle in this heartbreaking situation,
Have a Great Day! Amy
Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
For more coloring devotional pages on the book of Psalms, see these posts:
Coloring Through the Book of Psalms
Coloring Through the Book of Psalms, Part II
Continuing On Coloring Through the Book of Psalms
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