Joseph, the dreamer.

Don't be a dreamer. Be a believer. God is with you, always and he loves you. He wants to see you succeed and do great things. He loves you. Spend time with him, in his word, praise and worship, and have a relationship with him. 

In the story of Joseph his brothers intended to hurt him. They were jealous.

Joseph was their dads favorite. Their dad made him a coat of many colors. He was allowed to study books and play while the brothers labored.

Joseph had dreams that his brothers would bow down to him. Jealous, they sold him into slavery. Yet God was with Joseph and saved many people through Joseph. 

 "As for you, you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." Genesis 50:20

I love Joseph's faith and his preserverance in his lifetime. I love his resilience and his faith in his Heavenly Father. This is the greatest form of self-help we can learn from. Better than any class, book, or friendly advice. Walk with God and River no matter what the circumstance He is always with you. He intends good things for you. What an amazing God!! 

• God was with Joseph and Joseph rose above hardship. God makes us successful and blesses us beyond measure.

• Joseph's master saw God in him. People like to see God in U.S.  God makes us beautiful inside and out. 

• The blessing of Hod was on all that Joseph did and had. The lord will be faithful to bless our work for our sake. He is with us. 

• In Joseph's story he lost everything. He hit rock bottom. His Heavenly Father never left him. Sometimes we feel alone and like all hope is lost and all friends are gone but we aren't alone. God is always with us. I want the blessing of the lord on all that I have. 

My bible art journal illustration; 

In making the art for the bible art journaling I saw the art of the two visions with the brothers wheat circling Joseph and his coat of many colors and the stars (the brothers and the moon and sun (Joseph's m and dad) surrounding Joseph. This was the picture I saw in my head as I read about Joseph and his dreams of the future. I included some flip pictures to add additional words in my lay page of the story of Joseph. I love the flip pictures in books and think it's a fun addition to any page. 

Wisdom: Bible study; Proverbs 3

         Wisdom = God

The #bibleillustration is hand drawn with pencil and filled in with ink. Also called zindoodle, this hand inked eagle stands for wisdom. 

Proverbs 3

Key Verses and notes

•Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths strait. Proverbs 3:5,6

- God always knows the future. He is before us and he is for us. He is in the past present and the future. There are things we don't understand and we need to seek God for answers. You can trust God in all things. Seek Him and wait on Him for the right answer. He always knows what is best.

•Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Proverbs 3:7,8

-a healthy fear of the Lord is good. That means you respect His understanding and accept his correction and knowledge. His knowledge will grow your faith. God is pure and where God is there is no room for the enemy. When we are filled with Gods knowledge and full of God there is no room for evil and this brings restored health and nourishment to our bodies. Praise God for His written word!

•Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding , for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 3:13-15

- In order to understand what he knows and find His wisdom we must be willing to submit to Him and seek Him through His written word. By following His word you gain wisdom and with gained wisdom comes great things in the form of blessings (good health, financial blessing, wisdom etc...)

•By wisdom the Lord laid the earths foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place... Proverbs 3:19

-His wisdom is so great he did things seemingly impossible for us to understand. He created the earth and the universe and all things in it.

•My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgement and discretion ; they will be life for you.

-God is wisdom and knowledge. If God = wisdom and knowledge this verse says "don't let God out of your sight." God is life and understanding Him through His word is life for your soul.

Illustrated faith and bible art journaling as a form of worship

Most recently I've started bible art journaling which is different than just bible journaling. I have always had a passion for keeping a journal with my bible study. I've also always had a passion for art and most recently I've combined the two. I'm sure you've seen the #bibleillustrations all over the web. Bible journaling is a form of worship using art to worship God and meditate on His written word. 

I'm going to share with you a very simple way to begin. I wasn't sure I wanted to mark on the bible pages and had a hard time writing over Gods word when I first started. It became easier after I started seeing art as a form of worship. I enjoy using my study bible aloneside my journaling bible. I only use my study bible to read and underline key notes. This makes it easier to use my journaling bible for bible illustrations. If you have a hard time coming up with the art work simply do your bible study and as something from His word begins to stand out for you highlight and color around the words or write the notes to the side and color the page. Use pencil, pen and ink, water color, and regular colored pencils. You may choose to use anything you would use to scrapbook or make a mixed media page. Regular old crayons work well too. I will include a few of my simplest pages overdone and include one of my more complex pages as well. Keep in mind, everyone's art is different and be kind to other journalers.  Some people like simple pages and others enjoy complex drawings and art. 

In this particular bible entry I used some scrap book papers for drawing ideas and flower prints. First I used my pencil to draw the flowers and write the scriptures that stood out to me from my bible study. Then I traced it with ink and colored he pictures with twistable colored pencils. My art inspiration here was my scrapbook papers. I love all the colorful pages and this is a great way to find inspiration for your own pages. Each page will be unique as you freehand your pictures become your very own images. 

My inspiration for this was the vision I saw as I read Matthew in this particular study. I envisioned an old fishing boat that may have been abandoned basin in and Andrew. After drawing a simple boat I then used watercolor and paint pens for the final details. I wrote the words with a fine tip sharpie pen. 

Who doesn't love washi tape?! There are so many washi tapes to choose from and they are sold online or in your local hobby stores. This page is a mixed media page with washi tape, colored pencil, sharpie ink, and I also cut and pasted a small piece of scrapbook paper which I wrote in green and pink ink. Notice the tabs I've used on the sides of the pages. Most bibles use these tabs to mark the books of the bible. I've used mine to mark what I feel God spoke to my heart in each entry. 

The most important part of bible journaling is to keep your focus on God and meditate on His written word. As you create your journal entries meditate on the word that God has given you and enjoy your time with Him. 

What is your favorite #artjournaling #bibleillustration you've done so far? If your a beginner what is your biggest fear? If your advanced in your #biblejournaling how did you get over your fear of marking in your #journalingbible and what was your first journaling page?