I remember reading the proceeding verses to, "the grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever," from the prophet Isaiah a few years ago and finally understanding what Isaiah 40:8, this beautiful verse, meant fully. I'd heard it before and the idea of God's word standing forever compared to the fading flower and withering grass held firm and beautiful.
"The voice of one saying, "Cry out!" One said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass. The grass withers and the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever." "(Isaiah 40:6-8 WMB) When I read the scripture in full and in context, however, (see the above verses Isaiah 40:6-8) I realized the grass in these verses was people! That the verses were comparing God's endurance to the fleeting lives of humans really hit home. Yet, it also brought comfort. God's word stands forever. It doesn't change in wording or meaning. The fact that God and His word is unchanging gives us great hope-- the promises we have through our salvation in Jesus Christ will always be true. The hope we have as sinners who can be saved only through the blood of Jesus endures. The fact that God's word is unchanging also gives us reverence and pause as we read our Bibles and apply God's word to our lives today. I hope you enjoy drawing these sunflowers with me. Sunflowers remind me of some of my favorite people because they're their favorite flowers. I also hope you'll cherish these verses and be encouraged in the truth that "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8 WMB). To God be the glory, Sarah
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I'm inviting you to Draw together with me because friends often tell me they're not artistic and that doing art intimidates them. Much of my artwork is not pretty, but it's praise-giving because the art that I do is to worship our awesome Redeemer & Saving God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When I do art as worship I worry less about the result and more about the process as I reflect on just how AWESOME the Living God is!
Today's prompt is less drawing and a little lettering. Note when you do the middle step and add weight to do it on the down stroke-- when your letter naturally starts going down in formation. For example: an O has a combined down and up stroke, so just add weight to the left side, where the down stroke falls. I find that when I do the lettering God uses that time to write His Word in my heart as I write the words on paper. I often have to do the writing more than once-- because sometimes I'm not paying enough attention... the Lord tends to write the words on my heart even better after a mistake & correction. Thanksgiving is this week in the US and it's a good time to turn our eyes and give thanks for the MANY blessings the Lord has given us. Often I fall asleep praying thanksgiving as I count my blessings (I find it helps fight thoughts that aren't glorifying). I hope you'll join me, Prayer Partner, as we give thanks and turn to Psalm 136:1 (WMB) to do so. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his loving kindness endures forever. To God be the glory, Sarah I do hope you'll join me as we draw together. I'm starting this idea of “Drawing together” because these words hold two meanings--the obvious visual of drawing pictures together and the idea of drawing closer to Jesus (and each other). Will you: pick a verse from the three and draw the pumpkins and post under the hashtag #drawingtogetherinChrist?
Please tag me @beblessedprayer as you also recreate the steps and share with your people. I’d love to see these steps in other languages sharing the verses and the goodness of God. These verses hopefully point us to the Lord God's constancy in the midst of change. The verses of Ecclesiastes remind us that everything (except God) changes—a time for everything. The Malachi verse segment comes as the Lord rebukes the nation of Israel for holding back their tithes for worship, yet reminds them He doesn't change and is faithful. The Numbers verses comes from a story of the Lord’s protection for His people when a guy named Balaam was supposed to curse the nation of Israel, but the Lord wouldn’t let him, and instead used the man to bless Israel. Let’s remember God’s constancy and faithfulness, give thanks to Jesus, repent of our sins, and draw together first to the Lord and then to each other. To God be the glory, Sarah The leaves are changing colors, or may have already changed in your area. With the changing of the seasons--of nature... or of life... we could worry... but it'd be a better use of our time if we remember that God created the leaves and painted them and knows when each will fall.
The Bible clearly tells us that we, humans created in the image of God, are more precious to our Maker than the birds, and flowers. I think it's safe to say we're more precious than the leaves (though they're not mentioned in these selected verses). As I thought of God creating, painting, and caring for the leaves it brought my back to the "do not worry" passage of Matthew found in Matthew 6:25-34. If God so wonderfully cares for the birds of the air, and clothes the flowers of the field shouldn't we remember that we are of more value to Him than they? I encourage you to read the whole passage. I hope you'll join me in drawing fall leaves this week and come back... because 5 more simple how-to's are coming your way-- wrapping up in a pretty fall wreath you'll be able to create on your own. As we create and color let us remember our Creator, Redeemer, and Preserver God. To God be the glory, Sarah |
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