I think October and November, and probably even December are going to be lean months for Bible Journaling pages. I promise, I'm in the word daily and attending church and Bible Studies regularly, but Bible Journaling takes a lot of time, and with all the holiday hubbub going on right now, time is something I have precious little of. Isn't it ironic that holidays are supposed to be set apart to remember and honor God, and yet those are the times we busy ourselves with so much "stuff" we do anything but that? Do you struggle finding balance between getting all the holiday chores done and not forgetting the real meaning of the season?
Anyway, on to the meager six pages I managed to do in the month of October.
As I mentioned in
last month's Bible Journaling post, I finished reading and coloring in all the pre-printed images in the Inspire Bible, so now I'm going back and doing all the blank margins that are left in my Bible. Some pages I use ephemera from
Illustrated Faith Bible Journaling kits, and other pages I just use stuff I already have on hand or I google a free coloring Sunday school image and print it onto sticker paper. This is a page I did using an image off the Internet and a sticker from my stash.
I chose this image of Daniel picking out stones for his fight with Goliath. I wrote two Bible verses that David said or wrote himself, then I added my own thoughts about how I can trust the Lord because He is faithful. All I have to do is look at past ways God has helped me, and then I can have the confidence that He will do it again.
This next page is an example of what you can do if you experience "bleeding" onto an opposite page. This page had heavy bleeding from an illustration on the other side. I covered it up by creating a background with leftover sticker paper. I colored the sticker paper in all different colors, then cut the pieces randomly and attached it to the Bible page. It covered up the bleeding beautifully and made quite the nice background if I do say so myself. Then I used a variety of stickers to illustrate a verse that I found significant in my reading that day.
"Your life is safe in the care of the Lord your God". How often do we worry about our lives, or the lives of our loved ones? I worry about this a lot. I always pray everyone I love will be safe and healthy. Now even though this verse is specifically talking about David, I believe the Christian can apply it to themselves as well. It doesn't mean we will always be healthy, safe from our enemies, or even spared from death, but it does mean that we are in God's hands. Nothing will ever happen to us that He doesn't allow, and He will always be with us, caring for us, every step of the way.
This is another page I created using a free coloring book image off the Internet. I printed the image onto sticker paper, colored it in, and cut it out. Then I inked a background by sponging with yellow/gold ink. I hand wrote the Bible verse 1 Sam 10:24 then I wrote some reflections of the chapter.
God never wanted Israel to have a king, He wanted His people to always look to Him for guidance, not a man. But Israel was relentless in wanting a king, because they saw that all the other kingdoms had kings and they wanted to be like those kingdoms: Israel wanted to be like the world. Do you see that same thinking in Christian churches today? I certainly do. Churches are becoming more and more worldly every day. Instead of the church influencing the world, the world is influencing the church!
God ultimately gave in to the Israelites worldly desires and gave them a king. Saul started out as a very good king, but ended up being very bad. God gave Israel a king to them to teach them through it. Sometimes, we can ask God for things that we think would be good for us, but really are not good for us at all. And sometimes God allows us to have what we asked for, to then teach us through it.
The next three pages all use ephemera from Illustrated Faith. I'm still using stuff from the same "Unyielding Hope" kit, and I won't open my next kit till this one is all gone...which might be a LONG time as there was a lot of stuff in this kit.
This page is a continuation of the page above, and continues to focus on how God uses our mistakes and sins in His plan for good. The story of the people desiring a king, and how God used this desire of theirs to deliver the Israelites from their enemies reminded me of the verse Romans 8:28 "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who Love him'. I built a page around that verse.
I thought the Bible story of Jonathan fighting the Philistines was a great place to use some of "Hope" ephemera. The author of the kit defines " unyielding hope" as "shifting our focus from inward to upward" and "hope" as "a desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment". Jonathan was alone with just his armor bearer, but he believed in God. He had hope! He looked past his present circumstances and focused on God. He said "Nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has may warriors, or only a few." And he did! Jonathan and his armor bearer killed twenty men that day and panic broke out in the Philistine army and everyone was terrified.
By the Way...the "hope" ephemera at the top of the page that appears to be covering the words of the Bible, actually is not. I only glued down the left side of the ephemera, so it can be lifted to see the words in the Bible.
My last page, which is on the opposite side of the page above, continues to illustrate this same story of Jonathan and the Philistines. I wrote how God makes the impossible possible by jotting down some key points from this Bible story. Then I remembered the chorus "God can make a way, where there seems to be no way" and wrote that down, highlighting it with a film frame.
I hope you enjoyed my Bible Journaling pages this month!
Have A Great Day! Amy
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