Daily Scripture Writing - Day 2

2nd February 2017

Luke 1:76-79 - “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him, to tell his people that they will be saved by having their sins forgiven. Our God is merciful and tender. He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death, to guide our steps into the path of peace.”
TFL!
Bernie x

Lent Day 3

Something about this reading always grabs me by the heart, so I was pleased to see it come up again for today's reading! The artwork however wasn't the most forthcoming when I started! Think it may be because I illustrated the first part of this reading during Advent. Who knows lol?! But once I'd had the breakthrough via a change in layer order and in a few blend modes, it all came together!
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - March Week 4

March Week 4 of Take Me Deeper! If you'd like to join in, it can be started at any time...you can find detail HERE at His Kingdom Come.

The first reading that I wrote down was Isaiah 40:3-5 - A voice is calling, "clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

I think this formed most of the scene for my page, although I didn't know it would at the time of reading!

From there I went to Isaiah 43:19 - Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

One reading I found I really felt called to was Zephaniah 10:12 - "And I will strengthen them in the Lord, and in his name they will walk," declares the Lord.

Exodus 23:20 gave me more food for thought for my page - "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared."

Next I was led to John 12:35-36 - John answered, "The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness will not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Believe in the light, then, while you have it, so that you will be the people of light."

From a commentary on that reading I picked out the following points:
- walk as people who are conscious that the light is among them

- these are the last words of Our Lord's public ministry. Afterwards he only spoke to his followers in seclusion at Bethany and within the upper chamber.

-walk in the light, believe in the light. To walk in the light we must first believe and trust in the light. Faith is the way we can see the light. As we trust the light we see the light. Believe in the light and trust Him who is it. Absolutely we may rely on it, unconditionally we must follow it. Lean on Him - His arm is strong to bear the burden of our weaknesses, sorrows and our sins.
- Trust the light and you become children of the light.

And so I've tried to incorporate those thoughts into my piece! Two children of the light, about to walk through the wilderness, with its desert and rivers. There's a path (pretty straight!) through the wilderness, and ahead is an angel (signified by the cross), which has been sent to guard the children along the way. The children believe in the light and will walk in the light, but the darkness is still around. The rays of light and the stars hint at the glory of the Lord which will be revealed.

The children are from Graphics Fairy site and all the rest is CU brushes.
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - March Week 2

The end of another week - or as I now think of it, the start of another TMD week lol! How time passes! I appreciate all the work that has gone into the creation of Take Me Deeper. The weekly devotionals are really making me think and read and helping me so much! if you'd like to join us, you can find details HERE!

March Week 2 - Take My Hand

Firstly I looked up the definition and synonyms for 'Worship'. Then I started reading with the thought of Take my Hand in mind.

Psalm 73:23 - Yet I always stay close to you, and you hold me by the hand.

Isaiah 41:13 - For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.'

Psalm 145:18-19 - The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of those who fear him. He will also hear their cry and save them.

Prov. 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.

I was then given an image of several paths, some in light and some in darkness, with shafts of light illuminating various points on the path within the darkness. People holding hands. Light shining through trees.
The image turned out rather different from what I'd had in my head...for some reason the predominately dark image didn't want to come forward, the light had to be in control!!

So I have my people holding hands on the path - I liked the one big and one small as it can also represent God holding us by the hand as well as humans doing so! The light is casting lovely colours and the path is so 'directed'. There are little gaps in the darker areas outside the pathway, little paths that could tempt us to follow them; distract from the main path; but they go nowhere, and certainly not towards the light up ahead. The Spirit is still represented; the people walk with the Spirit towards the Light. As in last week's piece, I coloured to the people with a warm colour to represent being filled with the Spirit. Whereas last week's piece was more of an introduction piece, showing those walking towards the Light as well as those not, this piece feels more personal...more about our own individual walk towards the Light.

For this piece, I created a landscape with CU watercolour brushes and then merged that with one of my own photos from the beautiful gardens in Walmer Castle, (here in Kent, UK).

Take Me Deeper - March Week 1

Well! A new month, a new theme in TMD and boy my pages seem to have changed in feel! Not too sure what to make of it but they are what they are! I enjoyed the process of making this page!

March Week 1 - I Will Follow

Points that jumped out at me when reading Romans 8:1-17:
-There is no condemnation for those who live in union with Jesus Christ.

- Those who live as their human nature tells them to, have their minds controlled by what human nature wants. Those who live as the Spirit tells them to, have their minds controlled by what the Spirit wants.

- Those who obey their human nature cannot please God

- But if Christ lives in you,the Spirit is life for you...

- Those who live by God's Spirit are God's children.

- For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, "Father! My Father!" God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.

Plus Romans 8:28: We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those who he has called according to his purpose.

An image came to mind of a path. Each side of the path was a wasteland - what it is like to not live in union with Christ...to have a mind controlled by human nature...a dark, colourless land where the people are not living full lives and are limited wherever they go and whatever they do. A sad place. The people are like shadows of the people they could be.
The path however is a happy place! Full of colour and light and where the people are children of God, living in the Spirit. It's always a path of course, following on from January's transformation which is ongoing. A path of love also; love of God, love from God, and love for each other by the humans on that path.
I wanted to make the path look happy and attractive of course! Bright colours, pretty flowers. The representation of the Spirit is still there, continuing from last month's pieces, and the people on the path live by the Spirit. One child on the path helps another child; someone else is closer to God, another rests in God's love on the path. Somewhere off in the distance is the bright light of God - and the rays of light from February's pieces are also still there.
The people who do not live in union with Christ look on as they stand in their dark, colourless and barren lands. It would be easy for them to just take a step and walk onto the path, to enjoy that life, and yet they have not done that - yet!
I used a lot of red as in our Church we use red at Pentecost, representing the Spirit. The happy and colourful path is filled with red - filled with the Spirit - the flowers, the birds, the landscape and the people.

I have to confess this piece makes me a bit uncomfortable! I wanted to try to make it more positive and not dwell too much on the 'wasteland', but it demanded to be seen! Right at the end I even made it darker as it just seemed to want to really push the contrast at me! Also, I think I feel uncomfortable because although it's simply representing the Bible verses, it almost feels like judging others, which I try to stay away from!! Anyway, it is what it is! It looks nothing like the sketch I did when reading the verses and again I have no idea where it came from really as I just stamped down brush shapes and a landscape formed! This took hours longer than my pieces usually do as well! Not to sure what to make of it lol!
Made with CU brushes and Afrika Children font.
TFL!
Bernie x

P.S. If you'd like to join us at His Kingdom Come for this year long project, you can find all the details HERE! x

Take Me Deeper - February Week 2

Morning! Well, it's been another rollercoaster of a week here! I'm not going to talk about the flood of nastiness and negativity which hit this week on social media from people who should know better! I'm taking it as a test of faith and while I'm of course not perfect, I'm remaining strong! Thank goodness for HKC and our Take Me Deeper project! Things I have pondered since the start come flooding back to me at various times, all designed to be at the best time to help me, naturally! Although the negativity really dampens my creativity, I still managed to find strength, with a lot of praying, to open up Photoshop and create! In losing myself in that process, I found again the peace that I need and the confidence that the long arms of hatred can't actually reach me when I am safe with God, and when my focus is all on Him!

SO, starting from Matthew 22:37 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, I then went on to v.38 - This is the greatest and most important commandment and v.39 - Love your neighbour as yourself.

Then I searched for other scripture containing similar words and found Deut. 6:5 which then led me to Deut. 6:7 - Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. And v.18 - Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight.

So I'm still thinking about how do I show love on the page and in life, and the word serve came to mind. This led me to Deut. 10 v.12 - ...what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to observe the Lord's commands...

Then I found Deut. 10:14-15 - To the Lord your God belong the heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set affection on your ancestors and loved them...

Then I wanted to search the New Testament and was drawn to 1John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Also 1 Corinthians 8:3 - But whoever loves God is known by God.

Finally I found a commentary which I found interesting to ponder! It said that it is humanly impossible for fallen mankind to love God with ALL his heart, soul and strength, 24/7. Without the cleansing of sin that God provides and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, he fails at this commandment. But as Christians we are cleansed from sin and do have the spirit, so we ask God for help and it is in this power that we do the impossible. Also that we cannot fully love someone we don't know so knowing Him is the priority.

As I was just about to start my page, I read again the words on a piece of art my eldest daughter (18) had painted for me after I'd gone to bed and had left for me to find on my computer desk in the morning...for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Luke 12:34). Which gave me a final thought about making God our treasure and our hearts will be there.

All these ideas are tied up in my page! I wanted to use the hands gently sheltering the butterfly to symbolise a gentle love that allows freedom and yet shelters from harm. It looks as if the butterfly is treasured. The hands look like they are doing good, and I hope the feel of serving comes across in the attitude of the hands - it's just the feel of them to me! I liked how one hand is coming from 'below' and one from 'above' hinting at how we love and are loved in return.
I wanted the idea of a road represented, and the hands seem to be formed up and out of that road...we love wherever we are, wherever we go. The suggestion of wind is there again, representing the Spirit we have, and the rays of light - the good we strive towards and God's love also shining out towards us. Setting this within a landscape fitted nicely with the Deut. 10 words.
Phew!
TFL!
Bernie x

Made with my own papers, the hands were a brush from Spiritsigh at DeviantArt, and the rest is CU brushes.

If you'd like to join us at His Kingdom Come and take part in the Take Me Deeper project, just visit HERE!