The Loss of Fellowship

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto man, and said unto him, Where are thou? Genesis 3: 8,9

       "If It is only in the cool of the day that I can hear Thy footsteps, my God. Thou art ever walking in the garden. Thy presence is abroad everywhere and always; but it is not everywhere or always that I can hear Thee passing by. The burden and heat of the day are too strong for me. The struggles of life excite me, the ambitions of life perturb me, the glitter of life dazzles me; it is all thunder and earthquake and fire. But when I myself am still, I catch Thy still small voice, and then I know that Thou art God. Thy peace can only speak to my peacefulness, Thy rest can only be audible to my calm; the harmony of Thy tread cannot be heard by the discord of my soul. Therefore, betimes I would be alone with Thee, away from the heat and the battle. I would feel the cool breath of Thy Spirit, that I may be refreshed once more for the strife. I would be fanned by the breezes of heaven, that I may resume the dusty road and the dolorous way. Not to avoid them do I come to Thee, but that I may be able more perfectly to bear them. Let me hear Thy voice in the garden in the cool of the day."  George Matheson

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP:

• Scripture: "Where are thou?" Genesis 3:9
• Observation: It is interesting that God asks where Adam is after he has eaten the fruit of knowledge between good and evil? We know that God can anticipate what we think/feel and hear every word we speak, let alone know where we are at. I think, perhaps that this is a form of a rhetorical question on God's part. He is drawing Adam's attention to the fact that he is no longer in communion with Himself. Adam is hiding. Adam is rebelling. He is frightened of God for the very first time. His fear is not one of "respect" but of the variety of fear that lives in dread of imminent danger. Adam is in panic mode: he no longer trusts God.
• Application: But a God who would sacrifice so much for us all, would surely be happy to forgive? I see this forgiving love so obviously in the life of Christ, and also in his death, and again in him who could not remain dead for long. The one man fully capable of resurrecting himself because his goodness and righteousness would and did defeat death itself. When Adam and Eve fell, it was not simply a problem involving Eve's envy of God's wisdom, but a problem of distrust. She did not trust you, Lord, enough to believe what you told her, even though you were her creator and loving father. Adam, in turn, did not trust you enough to report the incident instead of making it worse by participation. And last, but not least, the snake... (satan) who knowing fully how much you loved them, led your beloved children into distrusting your word. He did this so that they would die and your heart would be crushed by it. He deceived them because of his desire to hurt the father he had betrayed earlier himself.
• Prayer: Dear Lord, I see now that the fall is something all humans experience because we lack trust in you. I am so very thankful that my ancestors were chased from the garden of Eden in order to prevent them from making their fallen state permanent. To prevent all of us from eating of the tree of eternal life while we were yet still prisoners of distrust.  Never let me forget that in you alone, I can completely trust. Amen.

Focus On Illustrating A Poem.

       Lilies are traditional symbols in the Christian church. These symbolize both humility and devotion. I have paired these stargazer lilies along with the poem, Eden Lost to craft a large bookmark for my notetaker's bible/journal. However, if you reproduce a similar pattern onto thinner paper, it would be just as simple to tip-in near Genesis 3:8,9.

Left, is the front side of my poem. I illustrated two lilies using watercolors, trimmed the painting with paper lace, and backed the small painting with pink paper. Right you can see that I wrote the following poem on the backside of the painting and colored the outer edges with a soft pink pencil.

Above, I've included a template for those of you who
would like to paint a watercolor of lilies similar
to my own (above.) Trace the pattern with a soft pencil
directly into the margins of your Bible or onto a piece
of watercolor paper to tip-into your journal.

Eden Lost

by Isaac Williams 

Unto the East we turn, in thoughtful gaze, 

Like longing exiles to their ancient home, 

Mindful of our lost Eden. Thence may come

Genial, ambrosial airs around the ways

Of daily life, and fragrant thoughts that raise

Home sympathies: so may we cease to roam,

Seeking some resting-place before the tomb,

To which on wandering wings devotion

strays.

But true to our high birthright, and to Him

Who leads us by the flaming cherubim,

Death's gate, our pilgrim spirits may arise

O'er earth's affections, and 'mid worldlings

rude,

Walk loosely in their holier solitude, 

And breath the air of their lost paradise.

Focus On Listening.

Brandon Heath sings about "Leaving Eden"

Bone Of My Bones

"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Genesis 2: 23

       God made the light and the sun, and they were very good. He made the seas and the mountains, and they were very good. He made the fishes of the water, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field - all that wonderful creation of life, which, dull and unbelieving as we are, daily more and more excites our endless wonder and awe and praise - and He saw that it was all very good. He made the herb of the field, everything that grows, everything that lives on the face of this beautiful and glorious world, and all was very good. But of all this good the end was not yet reached. There was still something better to be made. Great lights in the firmament, and stars beyond the reach of the thought of man in the depth of space, sea and mountain, green tree and gay flower, tribes of living creatures in the deep below and the deep above of the sky, four-footed beasts of the earth in their strength and beauty, and worms that live out of the sight and knowledge of all other creatures - these were all as great and marvelous as we know them to be; these were all said to be "very good" by that Voice which had called them into being. Heaven and earth were filled with the majesty of His glory. But they were counted up, one by one, because they were not enough for Him to make, not enough for Him to satisfy Him by their goodness. He reckoned them all up; He pronounced on their excellence. But yet there was something which they had not reached to. There was something still to be made, which should be yet greater, yet more wonderful, yet more good than they. There was a beauty which, with all their beauty, they could not reach; a perfection which, with all their excellence, they were not meant, or made, to share. They declared the glory of God, but not His likeness. They displayed the handiwork of His wisdom, but they shared not in His spirit, His thoughts. His holiness. So, after their great glory, came a yet greater glory. The living soul, like unto God, had not yet been made. Then said God, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." There was made the great step from the wonder and beauty of the world, to the creation of man, with a soul and spirit more wonderful, more excellent, than all the excellence and wonders of the world, because it was made in the likeness of that great and holy and good God who made the world. Hastings

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP.

• Scripture: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:"
• Observation: So she was with him prior to the fall, she was one with him, they played side by side, they worshiped side by side, they, he and she walked side by side in the garden with God their father.
  
• Application: Now I toil side by side with him, raise our children side by side, weep with him side by side. We will not part until one of us must return to our father first before the other. That loneliness, I don't know if either he or I will survive. My mother told me once that both she and my father used to lay side by side in bed and pray that the Lord would take them together. But, the answer to that prayer was . . . no. How my mother has grown so very fond of my father, even after his departure. She has learned the measure of true love.
• Prayer: Lord, help my husband and I to endure whatever present or future plans you have made for us and transform our love into something that reflects your devotion to us both, a relationship that glorifies your idea of holy matrimony, not the world's . . . but yours alone. Amen.
  

Focus Illustrating the Scripture.

       I used a few little stickers of birds and apples for this illustration based on three text excerpts from Genesis chapter 2 and 3. "& Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air" Genesis 2:20 and "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh" Genesis 2:23 and "Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3: 1.

       Below are the tiny black and white illustrations that I traced using a waterproof, black ink pen. Then I highlighted a bit of the text.

snake from the garden

Focus On Listening.

Genesis 1:22 journal page

"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth." Genesis 1:22

       In the Old Testament the spirit of man is the principle of life, viewed especially as the seat of the stronger and more active energies of life; and the "spirit" of God is analogously the Divine force or agency, to the operation of which are attributed various extraordinary powers and activities of men, as well as supernatural gifts. In the later books of the Old Testament, it appears also as the power which creates and sustains life. It is in the last-named capacity that it is mentioned here. The chaos of verse 2 was not left in hopeless gloom and death; already, even before God "spake," the Spirit of God, with its life-giving energy, was "brooding" over the waters, like a bird upon its nest, and (so it seems to be implied) fitting them in some way to generate and maintain life, when the Divine fiat should be pronounced.
       This, then, is the first lesson of the Bible; that at the root and origin of all this vast material universe, before whose laws we are crushed as the moth, there abides a living conscious Spirit, who wills and knows and fashions all things. The belief of this changes for us the whole face of nature, and instead of a chill, impersonal world of forces to which no appeal can be made, and in which matter is supreme, gives us the home of a Father. Hastings

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP.

• Scripture: "... and fill the waters in the seas,"
• Observation: Our God certainly enjoys blessing us with an abundance of life! His generosity always exceeds our expectations. The world is full of people who want to limit the way God creates, or the how God creates, or the why God creates, but He is an artist, that owns His own power and answers to no one.
  
• Application: Apart from God, I am not nearly generous enough. But with God, I can give life enough to fill many hearts, worlds apart from my own.
  
• Prayer: LORD help me to remember your generosity whenever I admire the works of your creative mind and spirit. Let nature be an obvious teacher to me. Let me see your abundant glory, your generous blessings whenever I view the open sea or the vast skies above. Amen

Left, you can see the tip-in from my previous post. Right, The text in my paper cut page reads, "fill the waters in the seas..."

   Focus on Paper Cutting.

        For this scripture, I cut two carp to swim in my bible's margins. I selected a few sheets of origami paper to design the fish and a transparent blue pattern paper from Erin Bassett's book, "The Art of Bible Journaling." I also cut and folded a bit of tissue paper for the fish fins.

       

You may print and integrate this fish into your own personal Bible journals.

Focus On Listening.

This version of "For the Beauty of The Earth" is

 sung by Michelle Swift, I have also posted another

version at Color The Bible recently here.

All Creatures of Our God and King

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so." Genesis 1:24

       Francis of Assisi believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters”, and even preached to the birds and supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. In his Canticle of the Creatures (“Praises of Creatures” or “Canticle of the Sun”), he mentioned the “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon”, the wind and water, and “Sister Death”. He referred to his chronic illnesses as his “sisters". His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, and he declared that “he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died”.

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP.

• Scripture: "... beast of the earth after his kind " from Genesis 1:24
  
• Observation: God doesn't bring beast, fish, or fowl into the world without companions.
  
• Application: The creator makes us plural just as he makes the beasts plural. He never intends for us to live, create or resolve our problems by "living inside a vacuum." We are created to be in communion with both God and our extended families. 
• Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to remember to spend quality time with you and my loved ones, apart from the noisy distractions of my day. Please make sure that I give you my undivided attention at dawn and my undivided attention at dusk. Also provide me with opportunities to listen carefully to my family and respond respectfully to their needs. Amen.

Focus on Illustrating A Hymn and a Scripture.

       I chose to illustrate both a hymn and the scripture above with a simple print of a zebra mamma and her young. I carved a piece of linoleum and printed the image you see here with only two colors: black and teal.

       After the print dried I tipped-it-into my Bible after sewing it between a sheet of light weight plastic. Then I used a sparkling, copper washi tape to attach it near to the Genesis 1:24 text.

How to make a simple linoleum print:

• The Linocut Process
• Linocut Process: Hummingbird Print
  

       All creatures of our God and King was written by Francis of Assisi in 1225. I wrote the first stanza of the hymn behind my print of two zebras.

All creatures of our God and King,
lift up your voice and with us sing
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice,
ye lights of ev'ning find a voice!
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

And all ye men of tender heart,
forgiving others, take your part,
O sing ye! Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
praise God and on Him cast your care!
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

Let all things their Creator bless
and worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
and praise the Spirit, Three in One:
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Focus On Listening.

A contemporary version of the ancient hymn 
"All Creatures of Our God and King"
Prayers of the Saints Live sung by Sovereign Grace Music

"In The Beginning, God..."

"In The Beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1

        This is a sublime sentence with which the Bible opens. Will the sentences that follow be in keeping with the musical throb and stately massiveness of these opening words? Even when we regard the book simply as a monument of literature we find it impossible to conceive a more appropriate introduction than this: " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Yet the end is not less majestic than the beginning: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away."

       How should we approach the study of a book which opens and closes with words of such sublimity?  In John Wesley's first volume of sermons, in which the great evangelist gives us the secret of his method of Bible-study. "Here am I," he says, "far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone ; only God is here. In His presence I open, I read His Book; for this end to find the way to heaven. Does anything appear dark or intricate? I lift my heart to the Father of Lights. I then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. I meditate thereon with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable. And what I thus learn, that I teach." To Wesley, then, there were two great realities the visible Book, and its invisible but ever-present Author; and to a man of his training and susceptibilities the one would have been an enigma without the other. He saw God at the beginning of every section of Holy Scripture. Hastings, D. D.

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of  SOAP.

• Scripture: "In The Beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1
• Observation: God is at the beginning of our generation, the generation of humans in this world. God is with us at the start, making us, nurturing us, teaching us. He never leaves our side. When we leave... He has a plan to bring us back home. And Genesis is the beginning of our redemption story.
  
• Application: Whenever I feel overwhelmed, lost or lonely, I can go to God who is always waiting for me with open arms.
  
• Prayer:  Lord of all things, in heaven and on the earth, Thank you for bringing me into the world to discover so many mysteries! When my life has ended, I will remember that you have promised to be at this ending, and to carry me home for a new beginning with yourself and my heavenly family. Amen.
  

The color version of my "Genesis" title was filled in with colored pencils.

Focus On Your Illuminating.

       Genesis; a canonical book of the Old Testament, so called from Greek genesis, or generation, because it contains an account of the origin of all visible things, and of the genealogy of the first patriarchs. In the Hebrew it is called "בראשית ברא אלהים" B'reishit bara Elohim, which signifies, in the beginning, because it begins with that word. "In the Beginning, God.."

•  See more illustrated scriptures...

       You can begin your Bible journaling in a variety of ways, for example: you could choose to begin illustrating the first page of your note taker's Bible with a title page. In fact you could choose to illustrate/illuminate every book of the Bible with a title page.

       What is a title page exactly? The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition. (A half title, by contrast, displays only the title of a work.) A title banner depicts the illumination of the book's title. Below are a few examples of title banners from my desk top publishing blog:

• The Book of Jonah
• A Genesis carved title

       In my King James note taker's bible, there is only a narrow margin given to the opening of every title page, so a title banner that runs the length of each opening page would fit perfectly into this vertical margin. So, I have decided to open the title page of Genesis with a banner. I'm going to use a creative vintage type from The Grimm Scriptorium to design this banner. You can download the "tree like" alphabet here and trace one very similar to mine.

Focus On Your Listening.

"Look At The World" by John Rutter
Who is John Rutter?

Find much more about the Book of Genesis:

• The Genesis Reading Room at Tyndale Seminary
• בראשית Bereishit – Genesis (Hebrew – English at Mechon-Mamre.org)  
• Genesis is the beginning book of the Pentateuch. Pentateuch, (from pente, five, and teuchos, an instrument of volume,) signifies the collection of the five instruments or books of Moses, which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Read more...

Tabbing The Books of The Bible

Above you can see the division of books by font, below by pattern and color.

       I tabbed the books of my note takers Bible according to the traditional division of books. (included below) This helps me to remember the purposes, authors and history of those who the scripture was transcribed through by God. When I am speaking with students, it also helps me to access sample pages quickly.

       I backed each tab with a different patterned paper/color so that I could see the divisions of the books from the backside of my Bible as well.

       Each division is also made obvious by a different font too.

Old Testament Divisions of Books:

• The First 5 Books: The first five books of the Bible are known as the Pentateuch which is Greek for "five scrolls": Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
• The Following 12 Books are History Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther
• The Next 5 are referred to as The Wisdom Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon
• Then come the 5 Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel
• Followed by the 12 Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi

New Testament Division of Books:

• The first four books are known as The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
• The book of Acts is the History of the Apostles
• Then the following 13 books are Paul's epistles: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon.
• The book of Hebrews is the New Testament book that scholars don't agree on the authorship of it.
• The 7 General Epistles then are as follows: James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude
• The last book of the New Testament is the Book of Revelation and it is by the Apostle John.

This artist tabs her illustrated entries.

 I tab the books of the Bible because I'm a teacher. 

You can choose to tab the scripture for any purpose

that suites your needs. There is no right or wrong

way to do this procedure.

Journey through the scriptures with me...

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." Matthew 4:19 (NIV)

 
   I will be receiving a King James Note Taker's Bible this Christmas in order to journal through the Bible for the year 2018. If you would like to take this journey with me, gather together your supplies and turn your hearts towards the Father of Heaven and Earth.

"Come Follow Me" hymn

 

       "Others might write a Life of Christ without seeing the Holy Land, but I could not. So in October, 1889, I embarked for that sacred country, accompanied by my wife, daughter and my friends Mr. and Mrs. Louis Klopsch, determined to see with my own eyes, and press with my own feet many of the memorable places connected with the life of the patriarchs and the ministrations of our Lord." Rev. Thomas De Witt Talmage. Read more...