Battle experience

Judges 3:1-2 These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants … [who had] not had previous battle experience).

At least some of the “new” challenges I find myself experiencing in my life are probably allowed by God just as He allowed the battle experiences for the Israelites.  So many times I find myself saying that it seems like after so many years of walking the Christian life, I should not have to be fighting that particular battle.  But it is for that very reason … I have to learn how to fight, and the only way I can do that effectively is to actually fight!  God knows that so He allows certain battles to come along just so I can get the experience I need to be a better, stronger Christian.  It takes practice to do that.

Be careful

Joshua 23:6 Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.

It takes strength to not deviate from doing the right thing.  It is so much easier to “go with the flow” instead of staying on the right track.  This is true in just about every area of my life, be it spiritually or in other areas of my physical or emotional life.  It seems to always be easier to take the easier (and usually the more natural) path.  My sinful, undisciplined nature will always win out unless I am very strong, and am careful to obey what is right. It is God’s Word that will help protect me from being weak and from deviating from His perfect path for me.  The cautionary tone of this verse reminds me of the importance of staying strong and cautious in my obedience.

It's birthday time for my sister, but don't tell her about this card I've made for her!  I tried something new... a block card.  It lays flat like this for mailing:

The little bicycle part is actually the bottom but the card is laying flat right now.
Then, push it open and this is what you get for the front view ...

And viewed from above, it looks like this:

I hope she enjoys her bunch of flowers for her spring birthday!

Building up my inheritance

I had begun thinking I was going to get through the entire winter season without so much as a cold, but it did not happen!  One of the problems with getting sick with a flu is that you lose your energy for all those "extras" that you like to do.  One of my "extras" is to write my Bible journaling, so I have fallen behind in my reading and writing. 

Joshua 19:50b And he built up the town and settled there.

The town of Timnath Serah was the town given to Joshua by the Israelites as his inheritance.  He had led them through the initial stages of the occupation of Canaan and this was his reward.  One wonders what made the town attractive to Joshua (he asked for it by name).  It was in the hill country of Ephraim and must have been small and maybe undeveloped, or in ruins after the fighting over the land.  But Joshua saw potential so he took the inheritance and built it up and settled there.  I should never be afraid to look at the potential of a situation, take possession of it, and do all I can to build it up and “live with it” (in a positive sense of that phrase!).  It is my inheritance from God.  I need to “own” whatever situation God puts into my life and make the best of it possible using the principles I see in what Joshua did.  I  want to be as strong and insightful as I see Joshua was.

Fear and discouragement

Joshua 1:9 Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Fear and discouragement are two things that can destroy me and destroy my effectiveness as I try to please God and obey His Word, so I find it especially meaningful to have these two things dealt with at one time and by the same remedy: the presence of God Himself wherever I go, whatever I do.  The awareness of God’s presence has the power to eliminate fear and destroy discouragement, so it is important to keep my awareness of God’s presence in my sub consciousness as I go through each day and face each challenge that comes my way.

God bless my skills

Deuteronomy 33:11a Bless all his skills, Lord, and be pleased with the work of his hands.

This is part of the blessing-prayer that Moses gives to Levi as he was preparing to turn over his leadership to Joshua.  Because Levi’s calling was to lead Israel in their spiritual efforts, I find this blessing particularly meaningful.  What special skills would Levi have?  Verses 8-10 include things such as: 1) putting aside personal interests (v.9a), 2) watching over God’s Word (v.9b), 3) teaching the Word (v.10a), and 4) offering incense and burnt offerings (v.10b).  Most of these were non-physical labor kinds of skills, but here was a prayer of blessing over those skills that are often forgotten.  This is my reminder that even my non-physical labor can be blessed of God, so nothing I do ever needs to be outside of that blessing.  As I have grown older and find myself reflecting on my life experiences, I have frequently been troubled over some jobs I’ve performed that I felt like were less than stellar even though I was trusting God as I did them … jobs such as leading the library through the aftermath of the fire.  That was not a physical job but it took a lot of work, and as I am reminded from this verse, I can rest in the fact that God blessed my skills and that He is pleased with my work. 

I found some metallic teal embossing powder on sale at the local craft store a few months ago and bought it even though at the time I had no specific plans on how I would ever use it, but yesterday as I was looking at making a card using some new teal, brown and red flowered paper (see it peeking out around the butterfly?) I realized that this was the perfect time to get that powder out.  After lightly coloring some cream card stock with light blue and tan distress inks, my brand new butterfly stamp took on new life with that embossing powder.  After embossing the edges of the card as well, the completed project is quite striking, I think.

Intimidated? Maybe ... Afraid? No!

Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Joshua was getting ready to take over leadership of Israel from Moses.  Moses had been leading for many years and was highly revered by the people, so I am sure there had to be some hesitation on Joshua’s part even though he had good standing with the people and good leadership skills and experience.  He knew the enormity of the immediate future’s activities, so this reminder of God’s presence and direction would be a timely one for him… as it is to us even now, all these years later.  No need for fear or discouragement when my goal is to follow the Lord, and as He is leading.  As I grow older I see some things as more intimidating than I did when I was younger, perhaps because I have more life experience so can understand the enormity of certain kinds of decisions.  As my body grows weaker from age and my mind is less keen I can also look back at the many times when it was evident that the Lord had gone before me and was with me, so even though physically life may be more challenging.  I am not afraid.  I remain determined to follow God’s leading in my life.  I am not discouraged.

Another lesson learned over the weekend from my new card-making CD and I must say, I am eager to mail this "Thinking of you" card to my sister-in-law.

I used some remnants of an Artful Card Kit from Paper Wishes.
I embossed a piece of cream colored cardstock then colored the raised image using thee colors of distress inks.

God's good treasury

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

There are some things that I will never know or understand because they are the “secret things” that only God knows.  However, there are things that God has revealed through His Word, through my conscience, through creation, and those things form the basis of my obligation to obedience.  If I obey what I know and understand, I will be doing all the Lord requires of me.  I can wonder about those other “secret things” but I don’t have to worry about their impact on me except as God reveals them to me.  This makes my obedience so much easier, particularly so when I remember the words of the previous chapter in 28:12: “The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens … to bless all the work of your hands.” (ESV)

Turning curses into blessings

Deuteronomy 23:5 The Lord your God … turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.

I see shades of Romans 8:28 in this Old Testament verse!  A curse, something bad, something difficult, something unpleasant, was turned into a blessing.  And the reason had nothing to do with how good the Israelites were, or with how much good they had done.  It was because the Lord loved them.  This love is a recurring theme throughout all of the history of the Israelites as recorded in the Old Testament and is carried over into the New Testament and into our own lives these thousands of years later.  I know this because of that well-known verse in Romans, but also because I have seen it in action in my own life so many times.  Things that happened that were devastating to me at the time have more often than not turned out to be for the best.  I remember the devastation of having to leave the ministry and friends I loved so much in Lebanon due to the war.  It was one of the most difficult experiences I have ever had, yet the move to Madaba in Jordan turned out to be a blessing full of great memories that I can look back on.  Later, a painful failed engagement for me and the terrible loss of a spouse for Russ meant that I was “free” to marry Russ, another wonderful blessing.  The pains of what seem like curses do indeed become blessings when God is in one’s life because “the Lord your God loves you.”

An old dog CAN learn new tricks!

This old dog can still learn new tricks!!  I am pleased with the results of my card-making efforts yesterday as I learned a new technique from my new CD "Teresa's Stamp Camp 4" from my favorite online store Paper Wishes.  I am constantly amazed at the ideas that people come up with for new ways to use old tools in scrapbooking!  I wish I had half that ingenuity, but I am happy to have access to such great ideas. 

This idea was to make four different pages of embossed cardstock then cut them apart at a slight angle and glue them in strips for the front of the card.  The idea fascinated me and although it was a bit time-consuming, I was glad I did it because the result is quite striking.  I had enough to make two cards and here they are:

When I was finished, I still had some small pieces of embossed paper left over and I hated to throw them away, so I came up with one last card...

In the photograph, the green bow doesn't seem to match the card base, but that is the result of a less than good photographer!  Trust me, in "real life" it looks fine!  But the main reason for showing this card is the totally different use of the embossed strips.  I swiped an ink pad over the center banner to change it even more.  The green card made a fitting end to a great St. Patrick's Day!

Learning

Deuteronomy 18:9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

I see a couple of things here that are my reminders to be careful about my interaction with the world around me.  First, I have to be careful that I do not become like the world in its detestable ways.  God wants me to be different.  Secondly, I must make every effort to not learn to imitate the world’s ways.  Learning is something I can choose to do or not to do, at least to a great extent.  So I can at least be conscious of what is influencing, or teaching me, and can resist learning what I should not learn.  This is part of the way I keep myself holy toward God which is the goal God wants for every believer.  As I look back over my life I clearly see how key this principle is.  The times in my life when I let down my guard and allowed myself to “learn” ways that were not pleasing to God are the times I would now consider to be the lowest points in my life journey and took time and spiritual effort to recover from.

I am God's treasured possession

Deuteronomy 14:2b Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

This verse is found in the middle of regulations concerned with clean and unclean foods and activities.  It seemed a little bit out of place until I began to realize how intertwined the two concepts are.  Because the people were chosen, treasured possessions of a holy God, they should do all possible to remain holy, thus all the special regulations.  Likewise, they would do everything possible to be clean and holy because they were God’s chosen, treasured possessions.  I should be holy because I am the Lord’s possession, but I am also made holy by the same.   My lifestyle, my actions, should always enhance that truth while that same lifestyle and those same actions will be the result of that truth as well.  I am His treasured possession, chosen to be so.

A Green blessing

I've been trying to challenge myself in my card making and scrapbooking by participating in some online challenges, and this week the challenge at The Paper Players was a good one for me because I needed to make a birthday card for a friend whose birthday is on St. Patrick's Day. 


  I wanted to use my Irish Blessing stamp and some of this foil paper I've had sitting in my file waiting for the "perfect" opportunity to use it, and this green and white challenge was that perfect opportunity.  The biggest challenge came in trying to photograph such shiny paper!

My offering to God

Deuteronomy 12:18b … you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to.

I must admit I am not really clear on the meaning of this within its context, but it seems to be a reminder to the Israelites that giving their tithes and offerings should be an act of joy and not just of obligation.  For certain, it is my reminder that everything I do should be surrounded by joy.  There are times when I do not want to do something but I know I have to do it, something that I don’t feel prepared to do or maybe do not even want to do and I rebel at having to fulfill that obligation.  As I recognize that joy is part of my gift, my offering, to the Lord, whether my act is one of obligation or is one of choice, it doesn’t really make any difference.  I should “rejoice before the Lord” in it all, and when I understand that truth, it makes a difference in how I fulfill that responsibility.

Welcome, Baby!

I wanted to make a special card for a new baby in the family so I turned to an idea I've done several times before and have always enjoyed the outcome ... a box card.  The card looks plain when you take it out of the envelope, and indeed, it IS plain, as you can see here:

But then, when you squeeze the sides, ...

and another view of the box card ...

Hope the new mom and dad enjoy the card as much as I enjoyed making it!

Lesson in humility

Deuteronomy 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations.

What a humbling reminder!  Just a couple of chapters earlier, God reminded the Israelites that His blessing was not based on how big or great their nation was, and now He reminds them that His blessing is also not based on how good or righteous they are.  Then add the fact that the wickedness of those other nations was so great that it overwhelmed what little bit of righteousness and integrity the Israelites had … not a very pretty picture of the “good” side.  That wasn’t enough to gain God’s blessing.  Instead, the wickedness of the nations was just greater than the Israelites’ goodness.  Not flattering to Israel, and a great reminder to me of the weakness of any of my good points in relation to the holiness of God and the blessing of God in my own life.  What God does in my life is a picture of His mercy and grace for unbelievers, not a picture of my righteousness or integrity.  Like I said, this is a humbling reminder for me today.

It's not my good looks

Deuteronomy 7:7-8a The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the Lord loved you…

It is not easy to understand or even to comprehend how or why I am born again and am choosing to live for God while other people are not doing so even though they may have had equal opportunity to make such a decision.  I know that it is not because of my abilities in any area, or because of my influence or my wealth … not my good looks, as they say.  Nor was it my good luck.  But I know that my spiritual condition is the result of two things: 1) God’s love for me, and, 2) my personal response to that love.  I revel in this knowledge even though I don’t understand it, and I pray that I will never stop responding to His love.

Speciality cards

While doing my laundry yesterday  I got "inspired" to make two specialty cards.  I say "speciality" because they are not the usual kinds of cards, and I guess, to be honest, for me they are specialty because of the challenge I had to put them together and have them actually turn out pretty close to my vision of what I wanted!  A friend has asked me to help her make a card for a very special occasion and I made these as samples for her to see some interesting, out-of-the-ordinary cards we might make.

This first card is a cascading card made with two long pieces of cardstock woven together then decorated.  I made my own 3-D flowers using a die I have and then added buttons and/or brads to each flower center.  Add a few sprigs of leaves and twigs and a couple of butterflies and it was done.  Took some time to do but I am pleased with the result.

The second sample I made is much simpler but the effect is a fun one...

Can you see the one portion that is decorated with a green holographic paper?  I could not get a picture to do it justice, but it does have a good impact!  And then, so you can see the rest of the card...

The front panel (with the bird) is a very light green with little purple flowers, which is why I chose the purple flower print paper on the last panel.

The effect of obedience

Deuteronomy 4:6a Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations…

Aside from the benefit to one’s life when you obey the reasonable law of God, your obedience will have an effect on the people around you.  They will see your wisdom and your understanding, and also (see v.7-8) they will see how close God is to you.  They will not be able to ignore the God they see in you, whether in the wisdom they see in you, or in the relationship they see that you have with God.  When a person does not have either the wisdom of God or a relationship with Him, it can have a big impact on them to see that in me.  I pray that I will always genuinely and lovingly display God in a way that draws people to Him through me.

Advancing to the hill country

Deuteronomy 1:6b-7a You have stayed long enough at this mountain.  Break camp and advance into the hill country…

There comes a time when it is more beneficial to move out of my comfort zone and into new territory.  When I have stayed long enough at my current level of spiritual activity and am ready for a new challenge, then it is time for me to make advances into a new area.  Because this is usually not what I want to do, God usually has to tell me to do this, either through His Word, or through the message of circumstances, just as He used Moses to tell the Israelites they had stayed long enough at that mountain, the place of safety and security, and move on to the place of greater vulnerability, the hill country.  I have seen this happen several notable times in my life and as I reflect on those experiences I can see God’s gentle hand leading me into each new territory.  Sometimes it was just His voice to my spirit (such as His call to me to missions work and later to retire to care for Mom); sometimes it was His direction through circumstances (such as my move from war-torn Lebanon to Jordan and again to marriage to a widower); sometimes through other people (such as the advice of the friend to go to library school).  Each time it meant my moving into a new place, breaking up my personal “camp” and advancing to the next area.  Those were the places of the promises of God, not the safe mountain.

Why justice?

Today is the last day for me to read in the book of Numbers and it contained a potent lesson for me.

Numbers 35:34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.

This verse comes at the end of a chapter in which the Israelites were reminded of principles for fair judgment of crime, and it struck me that the main reason to have a fair and equitable justice system was because of God’s presence in the land.  As I watch my own country struggle over the justice system I see the same principle at work.  As God is eliminated from our lives as individuals and as a nation, justice becomes more and more polluted and ineffective.  

Although this is very true, even more importantly for me personally is the potent reminder to me of the need to keep myself clean and undefiled by sin and worldly influences.  God lives in me and His dwelling place should be holy.  Why were the Israelites to be careful not to defile the land where they lived?  For no other reason than because the Lord lived among them!  Why should I keep myself pure?  There may be reasons of physical and/or spiritual health, but they are secondary to the fact that God is in me. 

Barbs and thorns

Numbers 33:55  But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides.  They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

This warning to the Israelites reminds me of the same principle I see at work in my spiritual and personal life.  The less-than-desirable traits and habits, and sins, that I do not work to get rid of, those are often the things that give me the most trouble.  When I allow my bad habit to stay around, when I don’t work to “drive it out” I keep having trouble with that very thing.  I cannot allow those things to remain.  They will continue to hamper my spiritual growth, not to speak of those physical things that can cause me trouble.  I want to become more and more like Christ in every aspect of my life and those barbs and thorns can retard that progression.

It's not always convenient

Numbers 32:16-17  We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children.  But we will arm ourselves for battle and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place.

This is a beautiful example of commitment.  The tribes of Reuben and Gad were ready (and able) to settle down in their permanent locations, but they also had a commitment to the rest of the Israelites to help them get possession of the Promised Land, so they chose to put their own desires aside until their other commitment was completed.  They were ready to settle in and be comfortable, but they chose to arm themselves for battle instead, for the good of the whole group.  They had to consciously and deliberately make that decision and although it was undoubtedly a difficult one to make, in the end they received the inheritance they wanted all along (see 32:33-42), but with the satisfaction of knowing all of what God had done to help the other tribes of Israel obtain their land.  Unfortunately, I see in myself the weakness of often being unwilling to set aside my own interests, my own agenda of activities, in order to participate in bringing blessing to others.  I have that tendency to be self-seeking and when that appears, I have to battle the temptation.  If I am willing to accept the challenge of being committed to assisting others, God will bring me the ultimate blessing of providing what I want and need.  It is not always convenient to follow God’s perfect plan but it is always satisfying and beneficial in the end.

Pleasing Prayer

Numbers 28:2c …as an aroma pleasing to me.

This phrase is repeated over and over again in the passages that describe the number of and frequency of the offerings the Israelites were to make to the Lord every year.  They  had daily (morning and evening), weekly, monthly, and yearly offerings.  From other scriptures we know that the pleasing aroma of those offerings was a symbol of prayer, which reminds me of how often God wants me to be in a prayerful position.  Does that mean prayer is to be a legalistic, regulated activity?  Why so many offerings/prayers?  I think the secret is in this phrase which is repeated so many times throughout the books of Leviticus and Numbers in the listing of the laws concerning those offerings.  God sees my communication with Him as something pleasant, something to be frequent and sweet.  He likes to have that frequent communication with His people.  It is pleasing to Him.

Another New Card

This is the other card I made this weekend and I am entering it in the challenge at The Paper Players.
  This is the challenge they presented...


Here is my entry. 

New card

I made two cards over the weekend that I thought turned out nicely, so I am sharing one with Freshly Made Sketches to go along with their challenge for the week.


  Here is my contribution to the Freshly Made Sketches challenge...

The Spirit of Leadership

Numbers 27:18 Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him.

Moses knew he would die soon and that the Israelites would need a strong and competent leader in his place.  Joshua is the man God chose for Moses to commission.  What I like best about this verse is the recognition of the special gift Joshua had.  The spirit of leadership was in him.  Not everyone has the spirit of leadership, and it is usually easy to see whether it is present or not.  Lots of leaders do not have it and it shows!  But having the spirit of leadership will make one’s acts of leadership so much more beneficial and meaningful for the followers.  If I am going to lead in anything, I want it to be because God has put the spirit of leadership in me and because others can see that in me.  When I was in high school I remember several times when teachers noted that I was NOT a leader, and even in college I did not show signs of having that spirit of leadership.  God did not have plans for me to be in leadership at that time of my life and so the spirit of leadership was not evident in me.  In more recent years, however, I have had several experiences of leadership and at those times, it was apparent to me as well as to others that God had put that spirit within me for that task.  I would not want to have to lead unless the spirit of leadership was recognizable in me.

Total, Committed, Determined Obedience

Numbers 24:13  Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord…

This statement of determination strikes me as particularly powerful and meaningful because it is the second time Balaam made almost the same declaration to Balak’s representatives (see 22:18).  In the two times he covered the whole “gamut” of what he could decide to do or not do:  the first time he could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of God, and the second time he could not do anything of his own accord, be it good or bad, to go beyond that command.  Big, little, good, or bad, it all had to fall within what Balaam knew were his boundaries of action.  He knew that even all the riches he could potentially gain were not worth disobedience to God.  I hope I can learn to follow that clearly defined path of obedience in my own life.  It is something I can see myself having been learning for many years now, slowly, bit by bit.  Total, committed, determined obedience is my only path to peace and a clear conscience in my life. 

Dragonflies

I have been working hard to try to expand my technique skills for making cards.  I don't want to ever be stuck in a rut and just doing the same things over and over, so this week I have tried a couple of new things ... new for me, that is.

One success has been my developing skill at heat embossing, which is not a new technique but is something I have used very little until now.  I am pleased with the results.

I stamped my dragonflies onto print paper and embossed them with white embossing powder, then cut them out and glued them to a piece of white cardstock that I had tinted with distress ink.  Adding teal colored jewel dazzles brought the little dragonfly bodies to life. 

I started to make this card a thinking of you card but before I finished the interior I discovered that a person for whom I was going to make a birthday card in a couple of week loves the color teal, so I quickly changed my plan and added the birthday message on the inside instead.

My Gifts to Ministers

Numbers 18:7b I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift.

The opportunities I have to serve God in some way are each one a gift from God to me.  They are my opportunity to show my love for God and appreciation for His care and for my salvation.  The priestly service was one in which the priest served as intercessor between God and the people, and this was a gift from God as well.  In an earlier verse (v.2) the Lord told Aaron that the others of the tribe of Levi who were not serving as priests were also a gift to him and the other priests.  As their gift, those Levites would minister to the priests while they performed their duties in the tabernacle.  The term “gift” implies something pleasant, not an imposition on the receiver of the gift.  The duty of ministry to those who are in spiritual leadership and the “gift” of prayer for others is a gift God has given me.  This sheds a whole new light on my ministry to, and prayer for, others.  Whatever I can do to encourage and support spiritual leaders will be a part of what God has called me to do as a member of the “royal priesthood” of believers.  (This reminds me of an earlier post from Numbers 8... same principles reflected earlier.  I think God is reminding me of an important principle for my retirement years!)

When I Grow Up...

Numbers 14:9 And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them.  Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.  Do not be afraid of them.

Joshua and Caleb saw the very same things the other ten spies saw when they went into the land of Canaan, but they had a totally different vision.  They all saw the strength of the inhabitants but Joshua and Caleb’s vision saw the possibility of victory over them. They saw the presence of God that the others missed.  They had no way of knowing (no more than the other ten did) how the inhabitants would be defeated but their confidence in God’s power gave them an entirely different outlook on the situation.  This event in Numbers reminded of something I have been thinking about lately.  There is quite a contrast between the optimism of a man or woman who puts their faith and trust in the Almighty God, their Heavenly Father, and the pessimism of the one who worries and frets over things because they either won’t or don’t know how to trust God in all things.  For me, although I am normally fairly optimistic, I have had to practice trusting God in order to learn to do it automatically.  As I watched my mother grow weak physically and mentally before her death, I could see how that practice paid off in the end of her life.  Even when she could not consciously make the decision to trust God, she kept on doing so in spite of her fears because she had made it a habit for so many years.  I want to be like that when I “grow up.”  I want to have automatic faith-based optimism.