Week 7

Posted on February 15, 2016 by PJ

Ezekiel 37:26-28 NIV

I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my SANCTUARY among them forever. My DWELLING place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

We dwell in Him And He dwells in us. He planned it long ago, and executed His plan through the blood of Christ, Emmanuel: God with us. And now Christ dwells richly in us, the hope of Glory in us. We are a Dwelling Place for a God who desires to dwell in us. That’s pretty powerful stuff to think about.

Other references to study: MT 1:23, IS 7:14, 2CO 6:16

Ez 37:26-28

About the artwork: Wow! I love holy accidents. I had this stencil mask that I loved because it has the feeling of an umbrella. I wanted to leave the girl ’empty’ except for His Words, but wanted a bright glow around her. So I placed her down on the page and decided to sponge out my bright colors to show the Glory of the Lord as He inhabits His temple, me 🙂 but when I carried my Bible into a dark room I realized it wasn’t just bright paint, it glowed! If He dwells in me I will bring light into dark places even when I am not aware of it! Awesome!

*** I cut the stencil out of card stock with my Silhouette Portrait cutting machine, placed stencil adhesive on it and let it dry. I then placed it on another piece of paper to make sure it wasn’t too sticky to rip my Bible page, but sticky enough to to hold it in place and keep paint from bleeding under. I used FolkArt fluorescent bright yellow, orange and pink to sponge and drag out over and around the stencil. Then after drying I traced the image with a micron and gently peeled the image up. I penciled in the words so they would be vaguely centered and traced over with a pen. Painted a sparkly Wink of Stella onto the dress and the Bible verse.

Week 6

Posted on February 8, 2016 by PJ

February’s theme is Abide.

The week 6 verse is :

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:13-16‬ ‬‬

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

The word ‘live’ is also translated ‘abide’ and ‘dwell’ depending on which version you read.

We dwell in God, and He dwells in us. Find out more and share your lovely creative moments here this week!

Week 4

Posted on January 25, 2016 by PJ

Week 4

Week 4
1 Chronicles 22:19
Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God… for the Name of the Lord.
Acts 17:24-28
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands… From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth…God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Originally, I had read the verse in Acts; later on, I read 1 Chronicles and was intrigued by certain repeated words: seek, therefore, build, sanctuary. So I started seeking Him on a bread crumb trail.

In 1 Chronicles, I am told to set all my heart on seeking the Lord, now. In the original Hebrew, the phrase, ‘begin to build’ is more like ‘therefore’, or in other words: the sanctuary(Holy Place)-building process begins because I am currently seeking Him. After all, the Holy Place is where He dwells.

According to Acts 17 (and many other verses) God does not live in man-made temples. The word translated ‘temple’ actually means sanctuary or Holy Place.

God does not live in a structural sanctuary,
but a relational one.

ALL people (created in His Image from the one blood) are invited to seek after him AND, therefore, find Him, with all our senses. And, despite what the world and enemy would have us believe, He is NOT far from us.

Through our heart-felt seeking we have been built into a place for Him to dwell; and in Him, we now live, and move and have our being.

I am His Dwelling Place.
Seek Him Here.

*** I placed the artwork with the Old Testament verse to remind me that He is building a sanctuary in me for the glory of His Name. I drew and cut out of piece of stencil Mylar. I used FolkArt stencil adhesive to hold the stencil in place on the page. I placed the metallic Gelato colors on the stencil and used my finger to smear out onto the page. Then I peeled up the stencil and used a 005 green Micron for lettering.

Delta Stencil Magic Adhesive Liquid 1 oz
Plaid Stencil Cutter
Blank Stencil Making Sheets 8.5″ x 11″ Frosted -Pack of 10 Sheets
Faber-Castell Mix and Match Gelatos Gift Set 28 per Package (770161)

Week 3

Posted on January 18, 2016 by PJ

Week 3
Find the hidden phrase in the stone work. Can you find the three words?
Week 3

Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV especially v.13
…You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord……I love how much God pours all His heart out for me. He drew the best blueprints for my life, building me up stone by stone into a temple for His presence. So why can it be so hard to seek Him and His thoughts for me with all my heart?

Maybe because seeking requires effort. And I’m lazy. I wish He would stand right in front of me and speak directly to me. Instead, He hides Himself… though it’s often in plain sight. Any thing worth having is worth going after.

He hides in the face of the homeless, who were created in His image. He hides in the dead cold winter, allowing me to see further into the horizon than I could at any other time. He hides in…The doors of New Orleans, the shadows cast by mundane objects, the laughter of a child, the whispering darkness, an ancient stone wall soaked with Moravian prayers, and of course the resurrected spring foliage. He is everywhere, all I have to do is listen.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”
Proverbs 25:2 NIV

“(He) has made us to be kings and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever Amen.”
Revelation 1:6 NIV

About the Artwork:
Every Science Day in the old Moravian town of Salem I make lye next to an old stone wall. There is a window in the SB saal that I imagine the hourly prayer intercessor would look out of 240 Yrs ago while he prayed for their people, missions and the newly formed country? I always hear from the Lord when I work there.

*** I drew out the stones words in pencil first, then the rest, marking the ‘word’ stones so I could find them again when I started painting. Tracing them in black 03 micron, which is waterproof, I then used Inktense pencils and some Sakura watercolor (with very little water.) I did touch up the ‘words’ a bit as I could not find them again!
Note that I did not prep this page. There is a little ghosting on the other side, but I didn’t want to gunk up my pen.
I used a fine damp brush on charcoal gray and ink black Inktense pencils in the cracks.
Derwent Drawing Pencils, Inktense, 4mm Core, Metal Tin, Watercolor, 24 Per Pack (0700929)
Sakura XNCW-24N 24-Piece Koi Assorted Water Colors Field Sketch Set with Brush

Week 2

Posted on January 11, 2016 by PJ

Week 2

Matthew 7:7-8 NIV
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

I decided to dig in to the original language and found these verbs, ask, seek and knock were continuous action verbs. In other words, we were meant to continually…, even habitually ask, seek and knock. Not only that, but these were commands. God expects us to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. And every time we ask, seek, knock, God promises, with certainty, that there will be a response. ‘It will be given’ and ‘it shall be opened’ are God’s doing in response to our actions.

But while ‘you shall find’ has a certainty associated with it, there is an understanding that you go after it. Like when you lose your keys. You can’t keep looking for your keys, suddenly find them, but expect to drive your car unless you pick them up and use them. The kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. So while seeking Him in the past few weeks, I’ve realized that in finding Him, I’m often lead to knock on another door, so that I can seek further.

I’m finding Him in beautiful doors right now. I’m desperate to find Him and grab hold of His heart, so I’ll keep on asking, seeking and knocking until I’m changed from glory to glory.

About the artwork:
Three years ago we stayed in New Orleans for a week. The house we stayed in was next to a bar called the Crown and Anchor. I was intrigued by the front door and took a picture. The bar actually has two front entrance doors. The outside door of the Crown and Anchor is actually a Tardis (from Doctor Who if you’re a geek.) The door behind it is the real entrance into the establishment.

While I was studying Matthew 7, I remembered the picture and felt that it reminded me to keep seeking. If you know anything about the Tardis, you know that the interior is way bigger than the exterior. I think that’s just like God, you knock and get something much bigger than you could ever have expected when you started knocking, and the next door brings you closer to the finding. So keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, because He surely will show up.

***To make the tip-in, I drew out the Tardis on scrapbook paper, shaded it with pencil and computer printed the police box sign and notice for the door. When I cut the door out I left a flap on the left side to anchor it into the Bible page with double stick tape, leaving the right side free to tip out when I want to read the whole passage. I cut open the door to reveal the interior red door to the Crown and Anchor. The red door was made with Prismacolor pencils.

Prismacolor Premier Soft Core Colored Pencil, Set of 48 Assorted Colors (3598T)