Bible flip through March - October

I've done a lot of pages that I haven't blogged about. Here are a few of those which I wanted to talk about but not in as much detail.





I'm a musician so the psalms always strike a chord (pardon the pun) with me. This one in particular makes me feel joyful and inspires me to pick up an instrument and play to God, or just to sing worship songs loudly in the shower, car, kitchen or wherever!

A song. A psalm of David.
My heart, O God, is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre!
    I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    let your glory be over all the earth.
                                                - Psalm 108:1-5

I used Copics on page prepped with gesso, stencils, black and white pens.

Psalm 7 - God is my shield, using pencil crayons and black pen.

Lord my God, I take refuge in you;
    save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
or they will tear me apart like a lion
    and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
My shield is God Most High,
    who saves the upright in heart.
                                                  - Psalm 7:1-2, 10

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
                                                                                                          - 1 Corinthians 1:4

I coloured in something from a colouring book using pencil crayons for this verse, but honestly it's my least favourite page in my Bible now because I didn't have to think about the verse as much and it's not something personal, it's something someone else created.

Psalm 59:16 - God is our fortress.

But I will sing of your strength,

    in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
    my refuge in times of trouble.
                                           - Psalm 59:16

I used pencil crayons to draw a fortress wall then used alphabet stamps to add in some lyrics from Hillsong's song Made Me Glad (one of my favourite worship songs). They seemed to fit well with the psalm, which talks about God being our place of safety.

Matthew 6:25-34 - Lilies of the field.

Do not worry
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
                                                                                                           - Matthew 6:25-34

I used watercolour pencils to stamp the flowers and then create the background and highlight the words. I chose to write out lyrics from a song Special Kind of Love by the Malachi Trust. The song is a conversation between someone and God, with the person talking about their worries and fears and God telling them He's got it all in hand. The full lyrics of the chorus are:

Look now at the birds out there - do they worry? Do they care?
They trust that they will always be fed a special kind of love from Me.
See now how the lilies grow. Dressed in splendour they all know
more beautiful they couldn't be, clothed from head to toes with love from Me.

Isaiah 1:1-22 - Don't rebel!

A rebellious nation
Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. ...but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.

 - Isaiah 1:1-22 (selected verses)

We looked at this passage in my Bible study group, and it was scary! The passage is a list of what will happen to Israel if the nation continues to turn its back on God. Two parts of the passage leaped out at me - the word 'dilute' and the verse which is probably the best known of this passage about sins being scarlet.

The passage is a warning not to be taken lightly, and I had an urge to use bright reds all over the page to signify the sins of Israel. I made them brighter at the top and faded them out at the bottom - diluting the colour with water as I worked down the page to signify the work 'dilute' which had jumped at me.

Although it's not in the passage, the phrase that seemed to sum up the passage for me was 'do not dilute your faith'. If you stay strong in your faith and stick with God's law, then you don't have to worry about any of the consequences listed in Isaiah. If you allow the world's values to dilute your faith, you'd better watch out!

I used watercolour pencils, which seemed appropriate for what I was trying to signify on the page, with white gel pen to highlight the verses and black pen to write the list of things which Isaiah warns of as consequences of sin. I didn't prep the page at all and there was no bleed-through.

1 Samuel 17:45-47 - Facing our giants

David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.’ 

- 1 Samuel 17:45-47

A simple image of five small stones and some lettering to remind me that God is bigger than anything I'm going to face today.

I used watercolour pencils and a black Micron pen.

Romans 12:2 - Do not conform... but be transformed

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

 - Romans 12:2

I journalled this verse over two pages, because there was so much meaning in it. For the first half of the verse, "do not conform", I drew a school of black fish to represent the world, then a golden fish swimming in the opposite direction to represent God's people. The picture had been in my mind for a while after chatting with friends who work at a conference centre who were thinking about a mural for the wall. They were talking about swimming against the flow, and it seemed to resonate somehow.

For the second half of the verse I drew a transformation, the simplest and most dramatic I could think of - the change from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Over the years I've heard amazing stories of people transformed after coming to know God - alcoholics suddenly not wanting to drink any more, drug addicts recovered, people finding a purpose in life, etc. My own transformation wasn't anything like as dramatic, but I hope I am a better, more Christ-like person because of my relationship with God.

This passage also reminds me of a study I once did on John 14:13 - "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." The question was asked how can this be true when God doesn't answer some prayers. The answer is Romans 12:2 - if we transform our minds to think like God, then we will be asking for what God wants as well. If we don't, then we're only asking for what we want - in our name as it were - and that doesn't always fit in with God's plans.

The pages were inspired by week 13 of Rebekah R Jones' Bible art journalling challenge.

Hebrews 11:1 - Faith

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
  - Hebrews 11:1

About 15 years ago I bought a t-shirt with this verse printed one it. The verse really said something to me, although at the time I didn't really know what - I just thought it was a really good verse. At the end of the year my church printed a verse for the following year - and it was the same verse. It cropped up again a few times following that until it was firmly stuck in my brain and has become one of my foundation verses - something I go to if I need to read the Bible but have no idea where to start.

The translation above is what is printed on my t-shirt, which I had thought was the NIV translation, but it isn't what's in my Bible. That says:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

I found the verse particularly reassuring after speaking with a Muslim in London during a mission outreach. He talked at me rather than to me and kept asking questions which seemed designed to flummox me. He asked me about the trinity and asked me how I could explain it. I was so overwhelmed by the barrage of questions and trying to get my thoughts together that I couldn't answer, and afterwards felt like a failure and even started having doubts.

Then I remembered the verse. I didn't have to have all the answers, I just needed to have "assurance" or "be certain of" the things I couldn't understand. It's like when you're a child, you don't know all about the water cycle, but you know that you'll have water to drink, sometimes it will rain, and water flows in streams and rivers.

The verse has remained a firm favourite and a reassurance whenever I've felt frustrated or worried or doubting about anything.

While the passage was used as part of week 18 of the Bible Art Journalling Challenge by Rebekah R Jones, the art was inspired by week 19, which used washi tape as a background for the text. This is a different passage, but as it's one of my favourite passages I wanted to do something to highlight it and make the verse stand out and speak for itself.

I added the tape in strips across the margin, letting the ends hang over the edge, then trimmed them once I'd got everything down. I wanted to just have the verse and not much else, so googled lettering to get some inspiration. Lettering is not something I'm particularly good at, and I have to have something to follow as a general rule for it to turn out especially well. I discovered that the gold tape resisted the Micron pen, so I had to go over anything that was on that tape. It didn't affect the end result though, and once it dried it was still permanent and hasn't shown any sign of smudging.

After doing the lettering I added a short thought at the bottom of the page: "You don't have to have proof if you know. My belief in Jesus isn't my religion, it's my faith."

John 19:28-30 - It is finished

The death of Jesus
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

- John 19:28-30

The death of Jesus is one of the defining moments of our faith. If He hadn't died, he couldn't have risen again, and so this passage is full of the weight of history. Jesus had finished His work on Earth (which then leads me to think about how we now have all that work to do...).

I wanted something striking to emphasise the importance of this passage, but I didn't want to go down the blood or cross route, as I see those images so often it sort of desensitises me to their impact. Instead I Googled images of Golgotha - the place of the skull - and used that as the image on the page. I used the big block letters to write 'it is finished' and did use reds to signify blood and to make them stand out.

Overall I'm pleased with this page. It's stark and cold and has no sign of life, which was the whole point of these verses - Jesus was very dead at this point. He had to be to pay for the sins of the world.

I used watercolour pencils and a black Micron pen on this page.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 - A season for everything

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
 a time to be born, and a time to die;
 a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
 a time to break down, and a time to build up;
 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
 a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
 a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
 a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
 a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
 a time to love, and a time to hate;
 a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil - this is God’s gift to man.

 - Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

This scripture has always been a reassurance to me when things aren't going so well, or a reminder to control myself and not speak or act at times - something which I've had to learn over a long hard period. I used to have a tendency to speak whatever came into my head, especially if it seemed funny to me. Often it wouldn't come out funny though, it would be sarcastic or rude or hurtful or just inappropriate. As an example I once asked someone if they'd just taken their pants off (they had taken off a money belt) - it sounded like a funny conversation starter to me but it was wildly inappropriate. I hope that I don't make stupid remarks like that any more.

For the art journal I wanted to do something to represent time and seasons, but rather than just concentrate on autumn, like the Bible Art Journalling Challenge from Rebekah R Jones (week 43), I wanted to do something to cover more seasons. I decided to draw four clocks, one representing each season, all set at different times, and add the part of the verse "a season for everything" (verse 8). I used watercolours, washi tape and a Micron pen to colour and add the text.