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