He Leadeth Me

The old Hymn "He Leadeth Me" has been rolling around in my spirit all day today so I thought it only fitting to journal about it.  Listen to the words and let it speak to you. 

♬♩♪♫♬ He Leadeth Me ♬♩♪♫♬

1. He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
   O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
   Whate’er I do, where’er I be
   Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
   • Refrain:
     He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
     By His own hand He leadeth me;
     His faithful foll’wer I would be,
     For by His hand He leadeth me.
2. Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom,
   Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
   By waters still, o’er troubled sea,
   Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.
3. Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
   Nor ever murmur nor repine;
   Content, whatever lot I see,
   Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.
4. And when my task on earth is done,
   When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
   E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
   Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

God knows what we need to hear and when we wake up with a song on our heart that is the Holy Spirit trying to get our attention.  Lean into that and ask the Lord what it is that He is speaking to you. I needed an extra measure of trust in God and through this song it ministered to my heart that 'what'er I do, where'er I be, still God's hand that leadeth me'. He leads and guides us every day; we only need to trust Him.

The verb 'LEAD' can be defined like this... 

1.

to go before or with to show the way; conduct or escort: - God goes before us and shows us the way we should go.

2.

to conduct by holding and guiding: - He holds our hand all along the way

3.    to influence or induce; cause: - He helps us make our decisions

What a comforting thought knowing that He's got us and He will lead us where His will is. Amen!

Artist notes: I used my favorite gelli plate technique for this page. It's messy but easy. You need lots of acrylic paint, a gelli plate, bubble wrap, a brayer and baby wipes. Once I got the background laid down I stamped with Sweet N Sassy Texture Tiles for some depth. 

Using the Timeless Hymns set I cut apart the stamp I needed so that I could stamp individually and effortlessly not having to worry about masking. 

😬**YES, you CAN CUT apart your stamps** 😆

You'll be fine. Make them work for you.

Now that I have that song stuck in your head, have a lovely trust filled day!

💖 Elizabeth

Bold Prayers

I don't know about you but sometimes I just have weak prayers... You know, the kind that you barely squeak out because you feel some sort of duty to utter them each morning when you wake up. The grace over dinner, or the quickly sent up prayers over your kids when you tuck them into bed at night. The someone is praying... they may or may not believe what they are saying, but you can tell they lack the confidence in an almighty God over the situation which they are praying for. I'm not suggesting that we don't do these I just think there is more to praying than just that don't you? I want to make the devil shutter when I pray.

Now that we understand weak weeny-fied (that's southern for 'wimpy') prayers lets talk about BOLD POWERFUL prayers for a minute and how we can access God with more power, boldness, & confidence. 

Bold Prayers all have 3 things in common...

1. They are prayers that pray the Word of God. We talked about this in a past post. You are now in agreement with God when you pray the Word back to Him. That's POWER.

2. Need to be bigger than yourself. Believe God for something big, something that seems far out there, a dream, a goal, or ability that you could never accomplish on your own. A miracle healing, a supernatural promotion, an impossible obstacle to be removed...you get the idea. When you pray this kind of prayer then it shows God your level of faith and when He answers it, the only explanation is to give Him the glory. That's BOLDNESS.

3. Boldly approach the throne  - Hebrews 4:16 NLT - So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God... That's CONFIDENCE

Now THESE kind of prayers get answers. They are full of power and confidence in the sovereignty of God Almighty. It's time that we stand up and be bold in our faith and by bold I don't mean going all crazy pants. I mean the prayers that scare the enemy and put Heaven on high alert. :)

God is not scared of your audacious prayers. Be bold. Have Confidence. March right up to God and ask Him for what you need. 

1 John 5:14-15 - And we are CONFIDENT that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for. 

Well there ya go... that settles it right? No more wondering IF God still answers prayers. The thing that you must not miss though is the part where it says "whatever you ask that PLEASES HIM". We need to pay attention to that and ask things according to God's will and not our own. If you're like me you often fall into this trap and pray for God to do what you want to see done or move in a way that you see fit. No no. Pray about that which concerns God and pleases Him. Those prayers get answered.

Think about what it is today that you need to have more faith for. What is it that you haven't prayed about because you thought it was TOO BIG or TOO IMPOSSIBLE? Go ahead... I dare you today to be bold and pray desperate powerful prayers and watch God get to work! Report back to me if you do. I wanna celebrate with you answered prayers. 

** Bonus Scripture Ephesians 3:12**

Pray Bold!

Elizabeth

IG @icolorinmybible

Art Tips:

My handpainted bluebonnets were inspired by my friend @messybible and you only need 3 simple things to create them.

1. Acrylic paint

2. Q-tips

3. old empty gift card or credit card

Start by stomping the gift card through a puddle of green paint and use to 'stamp' the stems. Next you use the side of your q-tip and dip it into the dark blue paint. You need it to be on it's side to create and elongated oval-ish shape. Continue filling the bluebonnet up to the top of the stem. I added a hint of purple for depth then light blue and white to finish off looking a bit more realistic. This was very easy, fun, & relaxing. No rhyme or reason just have fun and create some cool abstract bluebonnets. And in case you aren't from the great state of Texas, celebrate with us anyway.  Just kidding, you can use this technique for any color flower you'd like. :)

Since I used my new Interleaved Bible I had plenty of space to add some personal prayer journaling after photographing this page.

I'm loving this new set from Sweet N Sassy Stamps called Just Say Jesus. It's versatile, cute, and has so may possibilities. Grab one for yourself. 

I also used these outline stamps. I love them and that they are easy to cut out so I can stamp them onto any patterned paper or in this case a photo. I now have a custom matching alphabet that coordinates with whatever I create. Viola!

Your Identity

I want to propose an idea for you to ponder today and it is this…  “The battles you are facing now are more about who you are becoming and less about who you've been!!!”

Your past is covered under the blood of Jesus but the enemy of your soul seeks to destroy your future.

Growing up I was a pretty confident gal. It wasn't until my adulthood when I began to purpose in my heart to do kingdom business that I began to struggle with confidence issues, self worth, and my true identity. Seems a bit backwards right? One would think that the closer you grow to the Lord the freer you would be in who He created you to be. Yes, this is true but you have to get there 1st and there is a learning curve. The reason it seems a little backwards is because only when I was about my Father’s business was I a threat to the enemy. I was saved, living for Jesus, being the best mom & wife if could, but I wasn't impacting people around me for His kingdom. Satan is not threatened by these things. He doesn't mind if you are saved, he just wants you POWERLESS and INEFFECTIVE for God. When I began to minister to others, walk in my purpose & calling, allowing God to use me in various ways, that's when Satan took notice and boy did he ever take notice. He knows we are girls full of emotions and he knows how to push our hot topic buttons - the ones where our identity is in question. The attacks came and they would shake me to my core. Key word “would”. 

I tell you this to let you in on a secret... We all have or still do at times struggle with walking out our true identity found in Christ alone. The difference is that now we do not allow it to consume us. The thoughts come in our head and we can't help that. It's what we do with them at that point that really matters. To walk in freedom is to be knowledgable of God's Word and put it into practice. I encourage you to be a student of His Word & be a good student at that. When the enemy comes to attack, you just come right back at him with the Word of God. Either what’s already inside you because you have studied to show yourself approved (2 Tim 2:15) or that which you have looked up to correspond with the attack. Taking thoughts captive looks a whole lots like a pep talk to yourself using the Word as the megaphone. A feeling of unworthiness jumps up in your heart, you say to yourself "no, I am a daughter of the most high God purchased with a great price. I am valuable, loved, and worthy because of Jesus." A thought enters your head about you not being good enough; you speak to the lie in Jesus name and say “no way devil. You are a liar! I am enough because Christ is enough and He lives in me”. You don't need to sound overly spiritual you just need to be matter of fact. You need to speak God's Word over yourself and directly to the lie the enemy had placed in your head. 

When we know He has called us by name (Is 43:1) and He dances over us with singing (Zeph 3:17). When we understand that nothing we can do can change God's mind about loving us (Romans 8:38-39) and that He renews His love for us every morning (Lam 3:22-23). When we allow the truth to transform our minds (Rom 12:2) we are set free and can live out that purpose for which we are called to - and in CONFIDENCE. 

Wield the Sword of the Spirit (Gods Word) over yourself. Tuck these verses (and more) into your pocket. Hold them close to your heart. When you are feeling deflated, unworthy, or unloved... Pull out what you’ve tucked in there and remind yourself that you are a daughter of the most Hight God and that He is crazy about you. The devil will flee and you will walk in freedom. Now, it may take a few minutes for your emotions to catch up with your heart and you might need to speak multiple verses over yourself before you see the change. It will get easier and easier and as time goes on you will become stronger and more confident in the Word. 

The more you are able to take these lies captive and speak truth to yourself the freer you will become and the easier it gets to let it go and walk in confidence. Once Satan realizes he doesn't have power over you anymore then you won't have to deal with it constantly. The enemy wants to cripple you but you now make HIM POWERLESS when you speak the Word of God to him. God will ALWAYS give you the grace and strength to get through the feelings of anything less than a mighty woman of God that YOU are! You are Worthy!

Art: Clear sticker paper and what NOT to do. lol :)

I used some IF printables to complement the awesome SNSS Hello My Name Is 

stamp set.  There were some things I learned along the way. 

1. Ink takes a bit longer to dry on sticker paper & it smudges easier so watch out.

2. When stamping, the ink will bleed and the once crisp image will then become a bit fuzzy around the edges over time as it dries.

3. If you try and take a q-tip to clean up the smudges then it takes off the matte finish of the sticker paper and you see shiny spots.

4. Your pen tends to 'scratch' off the coating as well and can't write as easily.

Even though they have some quirks sticker paper is still a fave technique of mine.

Be blessed! Be encouraged!

Elizabeth

Follow me on IG - @icolorinmybible

Pray the Word

Hi friends... I want to share something POWERFUL with you today.

"Pray the Word"... you're asking me, Elizabeth, what exactly does that mean? Before I tell you, lets all agree on 2 things.
1) The Word of God is alive and active - Hebrews 4:12
2) There is power in our words - Proverbs 18:21

Think with me for a moment, what would happen in the spiritual realm if we combine these two truths? If you take an alive, active, and powerful Word of God (Scripture) and you pray it back to God using your powerful words (mouth)... something supernatural happens and God begins to act on your behalf. His Word is not going to return void nor is it going to fall on deaf ears. God LOVES to hear His Word prayed back to Him.

The KEY to answered prayer is to pray according to the will of God and in accordance to His Word.
The way to have a supernatural prayer life is simple... pray the Word of God directly. When we do this we seek to align our words with God's will more fully. Praying in this way is in alignment with God, in the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit agrees with you too. I don't know about you but I want all of them on my side when I'm believing for something and need the Lord to work on my behalf. Are you excited yet?

I know you have all been there like I have and had times in you life when you were at a point where you didn't know what to pray or how to pray and the words just wouldn't come. Any time you find your self there remember you can always pray God's Word.

If you have never prayed the Scriptures before it is really easy and rest assured, there are no special skills needed. Praise the Lord for that!! All you need to do is locate a passage that fits your need/desire (google search or ask God to give you one you may already know) and then substitute the pronouns (he or she) with the name of the person you are praying for. You may do this for anyone - yes, that means you too. Use the correct pronoun that represents that person throughout the verse or passage. It's that easy!

For today's post I am praying for my teenage daughter. I am praying for her continued growth in the Lord and that she would flourish as a daughter of the Most High God. I want her to not be swayed by peer pressure, not to succumb to temptation, to be strong and rooted in her faith, and that she would blossom into the woman of God that she is created to be.

I remembered 2 Peter 3:18. "But grow in the grace and knowledge our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
I'm going to use my daughter Zoe's name and illustrate how I prayed this verse over.

Lord Jesus, I pray that my beautiful daughter Zoe would grow in the grace and knowledge of You. I pray that she would flourish as she grows into the godly woman You have called her to be. I also pray that you lead her in all things and that as she acknowledges You, You will guard her heart. Keep her mind pure and alert to the schemes of the enemy. Keep her from temptation and let no evil come to her. And you continue.... You can add more scriptures if you want or pray however your heart leads you.

It's SO powerful ladies!!! God is in agreement with YOUR prayers and He is faithful to His Word to perform it. You should be filled with excitement now!!

So, who is it that the Lord has placed on your heart to pray for? I encourage you to look up scriptures to help you pray for that person and their situation.

Psalm 91 is a passage that you can easily pray and is a great place to begin practicing your new skills. Try it! I promise you will feel empowered as a pray-er (is that even a word?). And just by adding this simple technique to your prayer time you will discover a depth to your prayer life that you never experienced before.

Artist Talk:
I used the simple watercolor 'stomping' technique my friend Colleen showed us and then stamped the tiny word 'grace' randomly all over the page using the same watercolors. You need to make sure that when applying the color to the stamp that it is dry wet and not wet wet like you would use for regular watercoloring. You want more pigment and less water for coloring stamps- especially tiny ones like this. Added some white spatters and then my page elements & finished with the journaling.
I love the watercolor look and used it for the "grow in grace" words as well.

Happy Saturday and may you too "grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus your Lord"!
Elizabeth 💕

Follow me on IG @ icolorinmybible

Check out the Garden of Grace devotional & printable bundle HERE. There are 4 pages of ephemera, washi strips, tabs, a devotional and more. I only used a fraction of the images on my page. Grab it for yourself and play along. 

Find the versatile stamps I used HERE

I'd love to hear your comments or see how you put this prayer technique into practice. Leave me a note or post a picture of your page.

I used these and I LOVE them!

My house, Your home

24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil. 28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:24-32 NLT

Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus here but the Lord was speaking to me as if it were fresh rhema directly to me. I'm not sure if when you read that passage it spoke to you like it did me but man, God began to speak to me about holiness right off the bat and continued to speak various things to me throughout. 

I kept reading...

Verse 26 tells of something we practice in our marriage. Like any good marriage we have our disagreements and "heated discussions". The principle here is to not go to bed on unresolved anger as it allows the enemy to accuse your spouse before you. Needless to say there have been many a late night in our house. :)-

I kept reading...

In verse 29 it talks of using foul language and I've never been one to talk trashy or cuss however the rest of that verse is more convicting. See, it was here that I felt the biggest conviction from the Holy Spirit. "Your words should be an encouragement to all those who hear them". Boom! Right there I knew God was trying to prune me in the area of talking to my kids & my husband in my own home. Anyone else have a problem with their mouth getting them into trouble?? We are comfortable at our own house & most comfortable with the people in our house. This leads us to say things that we would never imagine saying to other people. Words are powerful and they need to be an encouragement to EVERYONE - not just those we minister to or see at church, work, or school. Lord have mercy on us! 

As a homeschooling mom the amount of words spoken to my kids far out weigh all the others I speak to on a daily basis. But it's my words that are shaping my kids.

As if I wasn't already convicted enough the crescendo in verse 30 stopped me dead in my tracks. "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit or bring sorry to God by how I live". Sure, I know what you are thinking... I would never do that. Truth be told, we are guilty of this more than we realize. We as Christians walk upright before the Lord as best we can but so many times, without even knowing it, we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. 

What the Lord was speaking so clearly to me through this passage was that my house was often not a very good place for Him to dwell. At times I have dishonored my husband with my words, I have spoke condescendingly to my kids, and allowed my emotions to control me and act in ways I shouldn't. These things grieve the Lord and many a day God has not been comfortable in my house because of these things. He simply can't be "at home" in my house unless I create an atmosphere for Him to dwell and abide there. This brings me to a place of repentance and tears knowing that my actions could be hurting the heart of my Father. 
You may ask yourself what types of things would grieve God's spirit or cause Him to not feel at home in your house? I'm glad you asked. Verse 31-32 sums it up for us. Getting rid of our harsh words, our anger, bitterness and evil behavior. Trade those out for kindness, tenderness & forgiveness and you will make God "at home in your house".  

Art:
1. Stamp and fussy cut all your paper pieces out then assemble with glue pen. I used the Illustrated Faith Seeds of Faith, She Blooms, & Delight in His Day paper collections. 

2. Using Derwent Inktense pencils lay a watercolor wash to the background. Mist the whole page with water then using a water brush pick up the color directly from the pencil and apply to page.

My verse was at the bottom of the page so I needed to modify where I put the 'grass'. I felt a lil scrappy so I just went with it. :) Hope you learn something new!

Grab your Love Your Neighbor set here.

Follow me on IG at icolorinmybible

In Him,

Elizabeth

Give me, give me, give me...

Hi friends! Long time no hear from me... Well, I am delighted to be one of the newest members of the Creative Worship Team with Sweet n Sassy Stamps. I'm so excited to share my 1st blog post with you. One of the 1st things you will learn about me is that I don't do mornings!!! Truth be told, I loathe mornings. I enjoy the freshness of the air and the stillness in my heart but man, that crawling out of my snuggly warm bed just isn't fun for this dedicated night owl. My mornings are not as productive as some would suggest however when I take a step back and look at what a normal "morning" around my place looks like, I see a different view. When I look at it I see that's it's not about how much I can get done, but that the time spent with my Daddy God IS indeed fruitful. You see, it's not about what time you wake up but what you do with that first bit of time that matters.

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Psalm 143:8 NLT

Yes, I want to hear His voice each & every morning & yes, I want to be reminded of His great love for me- who doesn't? It's that last part of the verse that speaks to me the most. He's gonna show me where to go IF I give myself to Him first. 

The Bible talks of bringing your "first fruits" to the Lord in Exodus 34. Verse 26 shares how as you begin your work harvesting your crops, bring the very best of the first part of it to God. I believe we can apply this to our lives. We give Him our very best and the first parts of our day.  May I suggest our time spent with Him in the morning as our 'first fruits' offering? I think of my morning times with Jesus as me giving Him my offering of worship. Since we are often at our best in the morning we can give God our "first fruits' by making His time a priority before we start with all of our tasks and to do lists.

We live in a society and generation that has a problem of the "give me's". Anyone know what I mean? Everyone wants something. "Give me a ride", "Give me some money honey", "Give me a break"... etc. Well, the Lord has some "give Me's" too. He says "Give Me your time, give Me your talents, Give Me your resources" but above that He says "Give Me your heart". 

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Matthew 22:37

What I got to say about that is "just give me JESUS". I want Him to give me more of Himself everyday and that looks a whole lot like me giving my 'first fruits' to Him each day in worship, prayer, & Bible study. Will you join me and committing to offer your 'first fruits' offering to Him each morning when you rise?

Art: For the background I used a large flat brush & 3 shades of yellow/orange acrylic paint blending and working quickly while the paint was still wet. I used the masking technique to stamp the sun  & clouds from the Love Your Neighbor set then masking/stamping each portion of the phrase for Give me Jesus set. For the chicken I selected a google image, uploaded it to Cricut Design Studio, and cut out a stencil. Using the stencil & the highly sophisticated ;) baby wipe finger technique I "painted" in the chicken. Added washi, a cute tab, and finished off with black splatters - my fave. 

Give me Jesus!

 Elizabeth - @icolorinmybible

If you are like me and have to have these stamp sets then you can snag In the Morning for yourself here or Love Your Neighbor set here. Check out Instagram & Facebook too for lots more inspiration on these new releases. Can't wait to see what you create!

Encourage and build each other up... 

Seems easy enough right? Well, although this is such a powerful statement it is often times hard to walk out. When we are feeling left out, unworthy, or empty it is hard to uplift others when I fact it is us that feel like we need the uplifting. Paul talks of the days getting darker in the 1st verses of this chapter and I believe we are living in those days. We all are in need of friends and people that surround us who edify and not tear down (enough of that already). Friends, why not live loved and from a place of fullness in Him? When we live in His fullness, it impacts those in our circle of influence and we are able to spill out that encouragement into the lives of others effortlessly. I wanna live in that place where I build, encourage, edify, strengthen, promote spiritual growth, and uplift this around me- effortlessly, don't you? #illustratedfaith #if_seedsoffaithcollection #journalbible#encourageothers #hisbiblejournaling #icolorinmybible

I took the 3x4 cards from the Seeds of Faith Collection and cut them up to use as different pattern papers for the banner then adhered the alpha stickers to it. Punched holes and strung them together with bakers twine. Easy!

One of the cards is used as a tip in for hidden journaling. Added a washi tape tab and puffy cross stickers & a few little cross doodles for a completed look.