Advent 2016 - Day 27, 23rd December

Advent Day 27

Words are taken from the Advent hymn God Is Working His Purpose Out
TFL!
Bernie x

Advent 2016 - Day 23, 19th December

Advent Day 23

These words are taken from the Advent hymn The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns and, again, fitted nicely with my day's readings.

Mark 10:45: For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
TFL!
Bernie x

Lent 2016 - Day 12

Lent Day 12
Based on Luke 4_1-13, Jesus tempted in the wilderness:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - May Week 4

My posting is a little late this week as...we had an earthquake at 2.53am Friday morning!! It was 4.3 on the Richter scale and there have been no reports of any injuries or serious damage thankfully. It's only the second earthquake I've ever experienced, and the first one was during the daytime. This one taking place in the middle of the night and waking us from our sleep was even more disconcerting! I couldn't get back to sleep and spent most of yesterday in a stupor!

I'm feeling a lot better toady though, so here's my thoughts and artwork inspired by this week's devotional!

May Week 4 - Rhythms of Grace

Of the suggested readings these were the ones I felt most drawn to:
Psalm 29:11 - The Lord gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.

Psalm 46:1-6 - God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths; even if seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence.

Psalm 62:1 - I wait patiently for God to save me; I depend on him alone.

Psalm 62:5-8 - I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. he alone protects and saves me; he is my defender and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honour depend on God; he is my strong protection; he is my shelter.

Psalm 68:19 - Praise the Lord, who carries our burdens day after day; he is the God who saves us.

Isaiah 26:3-4 - You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you. Trust in the Lord for ever; he will always protect us.

Isaiah 40:28-31 - Don't you know? haven't you heard? the Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. He strengthens those who are weak and tired. Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed.

This week's piece was one that I actually had planed before starting. Basing it on Psalm 46;1-6 I wanted to portray us being within a cave, safe and protected, (perhaps a cave within the hills and mountains that have been the focus of all my May pieces to date), whilst outside the sea is rising into the mountains and crashing, roaring and raging. What was calm is not in tumult, but we are safe in the shelter of the cave - God's protection for us, keeping us safe - "we will not be afraid."

I have no idea why but this piece had to be done in these dark colours. I started off trying to make it lighter, to continue with the pale, light and calm colours I've used throughout May so far but it wasn't having it! I hope it feels more of a cosy darkness than a scary one though!

The birds and stars are in the sky still representing God's presence and the entire creation being His.

This one took a while and I was totally absorbed in it! It has over 140 layers! I started with about half a dozen textures all blended together and went on from there building up the image - definitely a labour of love!
TFL!

Take Me Deeper - May Week 2

The speed with which this week has gone is amazing lol! Having a Bank Holiday on the Monday helped I suspect! If you haven't had a look around His Kingdom Come lately, do pay us a visit! There are lots of new classes and so much inspiration in the gallery, it's a wonderful place to spend some time with a nice cuppa!

For now, here is what I've been creating:

May week 2 - Dwelling in God's Presence

I did the recommended reading and these drew me to them the most:

Romans 14:19 - So then, we must always aim at those things that bring peace and that help to strengthen one another

1 Timothy 6:11 - But you, man of God, avoid all these things. Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

2 Timothy 2:22 - Avoid the passions of youth, and strive for righteousness, faith, love and peace, together with those who with a pure heart call out to the Lord for help.

2 Peter 1:5 - ...do our best to add goodness to your faith, to your goodness add knowledge...

2 Peter 1:10 - So my brothers and sisters, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience; if you do so, you will never abandon your faith.

I also read Psalm 119 and made the suggested list and perhaps the ones that I felt I wanted to portray in my artwork the most were:
Happiness
Seeing wonderful truths
Pleasure
Receiving strength and wisdom
Will no focus on what is worthless
Will live in perfect freedom
Hope
God will search for us when lost
Will receive constant love and comfort.

Again, I had absolutely no idea of an image when I started. I'd had a vague thought about following on from last week's piece - the image of the 'lonely place', the hills/mountains, but had no idea how to achieve that!

I started with a couple of textures, blended, and then added an image of flowers, which, when blended, created the suggestion of a quite craggy pathway, I thought...one that might be found in hills or mountains. By chance (or not!) this combination of blends produced a little cross shape where I have mine! So I enhanced that a little and added the shadow. I wanted to portray walking along in that lonely place, along the ridge of a hill or mountain, towards the cross...but you can also see the pathway going on past the cross towards the great light.

I then flipped the flower image and used it in the sky area to create some interest there. The bright light is the ultimate destination - the hope, the comfort, the happiness. Yet the pathway is, I hope, one that feels strong and comforting - it will keep us safe and secure. Needing and wanting to keep focused on this pathway - with all its lumps and bumps (our ups and downs when we may need more strength) helps us not to look 'over the edge' and focus on things that are worthless.

So I hope this piece feels as if we have followed the path in last week's piece, up, into the calmness and peace of the hills and mountains, and in that quiet, 'lonely' place, we are surrounded by God's love. He keeps us safe and secure on the right path here. We can be refreshed and feel enriched, ready for whatever life can throw at us! We have so much to gain by focusing on Him and His Word.

TFL!

Bernie x