The Wideness Of God's Mercy

"Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it." Jonah 1:2

       At the court of Jeroboam the Second, Jonah prophesied success against Syria, and his prediction was fulfilled, for Jeroboam recovered Damascus and Hamath and restored the borders of Israel. The word of God now came to Jonah to go against the great city of Nineveh and pronounce its doom, unless it repented of its sins. The prophet was in an evil case. His patriotism forbade him to reach out a hand or foot to serve that great nation which would one day swallow up his own people, while his fear of God was a strong motive in his breast to obey. Before his eyes passed a vision of the time when the armies of Asshur and the fierce warriors of Chaldaea would swoop down from the northern plains upon that little nation and carry them away captive, planting the deserted villages and lands of Samaria with the people of Arva and Cutha and Sippara. These strange people with their strange gods would hold their riots in the halls that were once blest, while the Hebrews would be placed in'Halah and Habor, cities by the river Gozan, separated from all they held dear, and surrounded by a proud idolatrous race. Such a night mare hovered over Jonah, and compelled him to fly far from his homeland. In Balaam we have the case of a prophet who wished to carry a message contrary to the will of God. Here we have the instance of a prophet who wished to avoid performing a duty the Lord had laid upon him. In the long run, conscience proved stronger than fear or patriotism. But the battle was fiercely contested and protracted within the prophet's soul. Loth to convey a message that might prove the salvation of his national foes, he took ship for Tarshish, a port in Spain, with Phoenician merchants. But his purpose was frustrated by the storm, and he was cast into the waters, and then from the depths of Sheol he cried with a bitter cry to Jehovah to save him from his peril. The Lord had mercy upon him, and, after an experience which we need not discuss now, he was cast out upon the shore. There, as he lay helpless on the beach, the word of the Lord came to him and bade him hasten to Nineveh and deliver his message.

       The original opportunity indeed was now gone. The prophet had lost the honor of at once obeying the Divine commands; he had tasted the agony implied in preferring his own inclinations to the will of God. But God had brought good out of evil, had taught him the beauty of repentance and the greatness of His mercy. And, surest proof of all that he was quite forgiven, the Divine Spirit had come back, the great impulse arose, which formerly he had fought against and beaten down, " Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it." With a heart purified by repentance and softened by pardon, Jonah was now able to enter into the mind of God, to comprehend the feelings with which He looked down on a vast community of human beings who had forgotten His name and His nature. He him self had experienced the unfathomable pity that was in the Divine heart, God's earnest desire to show mercy, His unwillingness that any should perish. He had discovered that the heathen were not necessarily destitute of every human virtue, and that they were not completely averse to the worship of the true God. So wonderful indeed are God's ways of dealing with the hearts of men that Jonah was probably a fitter messenger to Nineveh after his attempted flight than he had been before. By our very failures, God educates us to do His will.  C. H. Gomill, The Prophets of Israel 

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

Scripture: "Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it." Jonah 1:2

Observation: What strikes me the most about the life of Jonah is not this old prophet's disloyalty. Most of us are disloyal to God before we are trained to be otherwise. What strikes me the most about the journey of Jonah is that God doesn't let Jonah abandon what is best or right for him to do concerning the ministry he has been called to. God's loyalty to Jonah's calling is tenacious, to say the least. He doesn't let Jonah resist to the point of failure, he guides him and then rescues Jonah's calling when all seems to be impossible, for nothing is impossible for God. 
Application: Complaining doesn't prevent God from accomplishing His will and His will is to save us from our own depravity! God is the master fisherman.  
Prayer: Dear Lord, when I feel like fleeing or giving up, pull me back and create in me a tenacious spirit. Amen.

Plastic sleeves make tipping in a breeze with a bit of washi tape!

The sea horse is copper leaf on it's backside.

Focus On Illustrating & Illuminating The Scripture:

       I chose to use some paper cut-outs of a sperm whale, sea horse and star fish to illustrate my scripture. Thread a small fine needle and trap your own select sea creatures between a plastic sleeve. I chose to write out the scripture on transparent vellum and sandwich it between the sleeve as well. The page is double sided and is tipped between the pages of my Creative Bible with the use of some decorative washi tape. With this method you may avoid covering text and give paper items some protection from wear and tear.

Focus On Listening

MercyMe performs "Even If"

His Name Is Jesus

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

       In one sense, there is nothing in a name. The nature of the thing is independent of it. It is not in the power of any name to make evil good, or good evil; and our Savior, Jesus Christ, would have been what He is, by whatever name He had been called. But in another view there is something in a name. It stands for the thing, and, through frequent use, comes to be identified with it. It is therefore of the highest moment that the name should correspond with the thing, and convey a correct idea of it. Exactness of thought requires exactness of language. Knowledge depends for its accuracy on the right use of words, and the great instructors of mankind are as careful of the expression as of the idea. Words are things. We deal with them, not as sounds but as substances, and look not so much at them as at the verities in them. Names are persons. When one is mentioned in our hearing, it brings the man before us, and awakens the feelings which would be excited if he were present himself.

       Now, we may see this, above all, in the adorable name of Jesus. That name, above all others, ought to show us what a name means; for it is the name of the Son of Man, the one perfect and sinless man, the pattern of all men; and therefore it must be a perfect name, and a pattern for all names. And it was given to the Lord not by man, but by God; and therefore it must show and mean not merely some outward accident about Him, something which He seemed to be, or looked like, in men's eyes; no, the name of Jesus must mean what the Lord was in the sight of His Father in Heaven; what He was in the eternal purpose of God the Father; what He was, really and absolutely, in Himself; it must mean and declare the very substance of His being. And so, indeed, it does; for the adorable name of Jesus means nothing else but God the Savior - God who saves. This is His name, and was, and ever will be. This name He fulfilled on earth, and proved it to be His character, His exact description, His very name, in short, which made Him different from all other beings in heaven or earth, create or un-create; and therefore He bears His name to all eternity, for a mark of what He has been, and is, and will be forever - God the Savior; and this is the perfect name, the pattern of all other names of men. Amiel's Journal

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

Scripture: "and thou shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

Observation: It is interesting here that the illustrator chooses to begin the book of Matthew by illustrating a cross in the very place where the scripture is describing the birth of Jesus. But it is also fitting in that the whole story of Jesus' life revolves around it's end. We are given a clue by an angelic messenger in the scripture I have chosen to focus on. The angel tells Joseph in a dream that he is to name his first born son Jesus because the name means "deliverance." And the angel goes even further to explain to Joseph that this is the purpose for him being born, to deliver his people from their sins, not to deliver them from political forces, human kingdoms or even pain and suffering... but from themselves. He was born to deliver us from the very nature of sin itself.

Application: And so the very mystery of both our beginning long ago in the garden of Eden, as a fallen people and the mysterious story of Jesus as our deliverer begin in this collected work we call the Bible. Our story in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament and His story in Matthew, the first book of the New Testament.

Prayer: My dear, sweet Lord, open my heart and mind to the mysteries of your testaments as I study and illuminate your precious words. Amen

Focus On Illustrating & Illuminating The Scripture:

      The illustrator chose to begin the book of Matthew with the end of Christ's life, as shown his hand nailed to the cross, in my Creative Bible. I included a little traced sketch of baby Jesus on tracing paper next to my colored interpretation of the crucifixion scene because the name Jesus means deliverer. This is the cycle of the life of Christ at a glance.
      My Creative Bible shown below is a coloring bible, but it also comes as a note taker's bible as well, for those who would prefer it without illustrations. Of all the coloring bibles I own, this one is in my opinion, the most challenging to finish. However, each coloring bible has it's own unique perspective and I will be sharing more of these in the future.

Above, you can see the beginning pages that I am working on in the Gospel of Matthew.

On the left is the tipped in, drawing of baby Jesus from the back side and on the right is what it looks like from the front. I used a permanent ink pen to trace my image (a baby in a basket of bunting and cotton) on tracing paper.

Focus On Listening

"His Name is Jesus" sung by Fred Hammond

Eve and The Serpent

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." James 1:14

Eve and The Serpent

Serpent. Not eat? not taste? not touch?

not cast an eye

Upon the fruit of this fair tree? and why?

Why eat'st thou not what Heav'n ordained

for food?

Or canst thou think that bad which Ileav'n

called good?

Why was it made, if not to be enjoyed?

Neglect of favors makes a favor void ;

Blessings unused pervert into a waste

As well as surfeits. Woman, do but taste.

See how the laden boughs make silent suit

To be enjoyed; look how their bending fruit

Meet thee half-way; observe but how they

crouch

To kiss thy hand; coy woman, do but touch;

Mark what a pure vermilion touch has dyed

Their swelling cheeks, and how for shame

they hide

Their palsy heads, to see themselves stand by

Neglected: woman, do but cast an eye.

What bounteous Heav'n ordained for use

refuse not;

Come, pull and eat: y' abuse the thing ye

use not.

Eve. Wisest of beasts, our great Creator

did

Reserve this tree, and this alone forbid ;

The rest are freely ours, which doubtless are

As pleasing to the taste, to the eye as fair;

But, touching this, His strict commands are

such,

'Tis death to taste, no less than death to

touch.

Serpent. Pish! death's a fable; did not

Heav'n inspire

Your equiil elements with living fire.

Blown from the spring of life? Is not that

breath

Immortal? Come, ye are as free from death

As He that made you. Can the flames

expire

Which He has kindled? Can ye quench His

fire?

Did not the great Creator's voice proclaim

Whate'er He made, from the blue-spangled

frame

To the poor leaf that trembles, very good?

Blessed He not both the feeder and the

food?

Tell, tell me, then, what danger can accrue

From such blessed food, to such half gods

as you?

Curb needless fears, and let no fond conceit

Abuse your freedom; woman, take and eat.

Eve. 'Tis true we are immortal; death is

yet

Unborn, and, till rebellion make it death,

Undue; I know the fruit is good, until

Presumptuous disobedience make it ill.

The lips that open to this fruit 's a portal

To let in death, and make immortal mortal.

Serpent. You cannot die; come, woman,

taste and fear not.

Eve. Shall Eve transgress? I dare not,

oh! I dare not.

Serpent. Afraid? why draw'st thou back

thy tim'rous arm?

Harm only falls on such as fear a harm.

Heav'n knows and fears the virtue of this

tree;

'Twill make you perfect gods as well as He.

Stretch forth thy hand, and let thy fondness

never

Fear death; do, pull and eat, and live for-

ever.

Eve. 'Tis but an apple; and it is as good

To do as to desire. Fruit's made for food:

I'll pull, and taste, and tempt my Adam too

To know the secrets of this dainty.

Serpent. Do.

Francis Quarles.

The Responsibility of The Christian

"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel." Luke 1: 79, 80

       The question, Where is thy brother? comes to those who follow Christ, not only as it comes to other men, but also with another meaning, a meaning which enables us to give a very blessed answer to it. Abel was a type of Christ. Abel's sacrifice is the first recorded type of the sacrifice on Calvary. He who died on the cross is our Brother. As we hear the voice of God calling to us, Where is thy brother? we answer, Here is our Brother, crucified for sin, buried, risen, ascended, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ever interceding for us. It is a new demand, a new question.

O sweetest Blood, that can implore

Pardon of God, and heaven restore,

The heaven which sin had lost:

While Abel's blood for vengeance pleads,

What Jesus shed still intercedes

For those who wrong Him most.

       And not only is Jesus the Brother about whom the question is asked of each of us, Where is thy brother? but in Him we all are brethren. Again, the question comes with a new meaning. "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another." Accordingly the perfect life does not consist in the cultivation of an isolated personal perfection. Christ lived in God; He was detached from the world, He spent whole nights in prayer; but the account of Him is incomplete until we add, "He went about doing good." "He came to seek and to save the lost." "As I have loved you," He said. In these solitary hours which He spent in communion with the Father He renewed the fires of His love for men, maintained and augmented His strength for serving them. While deepening His own delight in the Father's love. He added intensity to His passion for raising the most miserable of mankind into the same transcendent blessedness. And so the true imitation of Christ includes not only the discovery of the immeasurable strength which a devout soul may find in God, but the actual use of that strength for the service of mankind. Divall, A Believer's Rest 

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

Scripture: "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel."

Observation: This child Jesus grew stronger everyday in his spirit while exiled with his parents in Egypt and again when tested in the desert by the evil one. He was prepared for ministry and service to us in these lonely, dry places. But he was not truly alone. He was with God.

Application: God prepares us in our solitude, quietly, tenderly, and He waits for us to grow through our devotions and study, so that someday we all will return to the world to share our faith with others.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to take full advantage of our quiet moments together. Lead me forward on a path of deeper reflection, so that I may be made more like Christ. So that I may be made better prepared to share your wisdom with others. Amen.

Focus On Illuminating The Scripture: 

      I've created a free sample of an illuminated text that I colored for my personal copy of The Praise Bible. Because this coloring bible emphasizes garden motifs among it's illustrations, I have chosen to highlight planting, growth and harvest scriptures among it's pages in my copy.
     There are literally hundreds of literary motifs in the pages of scripture. Any number of these motifs may be selected among the Bible's pages to illustrate the faithfulness of God and the fruitfulness of the believer.

Print the following free illuminated scripture from kathy grimm. She hand-colored it with pencils and tipped it into her Praise Bible with copper washi-tape.

Free design of Luke 1:80 for Bible journaling by kathy grimm.

Focus On Listening:

"Come Holy Spirit" sung by City Harvest Church

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

The God of Heaven & Earth

"And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:17-18

Bible, plastic covering, washi-tape and framed photo of an old oil pastel of mine. Now I'm ready to make a tip-in for Genesis. 1:17-18.

       "God created:" does anything so lead up our thoughts to the almightiness of God as this? For think of the untold vastness of creation, with its two infinities, of great and small; universe beyond universe, in ever-expanding circles of magnificence, as we press our researches without, and universe within universe, in ever-refining delicacy of minute texture, as we pry into the secrets of the infinitely little -  think of all this, and then think that it came into being at His word: "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33).

       Observe, as an element of creation, the presence of that mysterious gift, so intimately present to each one of us, in its essence so entirely beyond our power of analysis, which we call life. We know life by its symptoms: by growth and movement, by feeling and gesture ; and in its higher forms, by speech and expression. What is life ? It is growth in the vegetable; it is feeling and movement in the animal; it is thought, reflection, resolve in man, as these manifest themselves in speech and look and action. But what is it in itself, in its essence, this gift of life? Science, the unraveller of so many secrets, is silent here: as silent as when she had not yet begun to inquire and to teach. She can define the conditions, the accompaniments, the surroundings, the phenomena of life; but its essence she knows not. It is a mystery which eludes her in her laboratories and her museimis; each of her most accomplished votaries carries it perpetually with him, and understands it as little as does the peasant or the child. Oh, marvelous gift of life! true ray of the Creator's Beauty, in thy lowest as in thy highest forms! We men can foster it; we can stint it; we can, by a profound natural mystery, as parents, yet in obedience to inviolable laws, transmit it as a sacred deposit to beings which have it not; we can crush it out by violence into death. But we cannot create it. Hastings, D. D

       When Mr. Simeon, of Cambridge, was dying, he looked round with one of his beaming smiles, and said, "What do you think specially gives me comfort now? The Creation! Did Jehovah create the world, or did I? I think He did. Now if  He made the world, He can sufficiently take care of me."

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

• Scripture: "And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:17-18
• Observation: God seems to always be actively bringing us light. Indeed, he is frequently referred to as The God of Light! Not only is he the creator of heavenly lights like stars, and moons, his word is also a light for our path in Psalm 119:105 and he defeats darkness continually through the saving grace of Jesus in John 1:5.
• Application: For every day I live to see the light of day, my Father in heaven will provide his never ending lights.
  
• Prayer: Lord, Jesus, make me continually mindful of how my conduct, attitude, study and submission to your light are necessary for both myself and others to grow in grace and fortitude. Amen.
  

Left, I've sewn the illustration between two sheets of plastic (These may be purchased in drug stores or office supply stores.) that have been trimmed to size. Then I cut the washi-tape to act as a hinge between the page of my coloring bible and the tip-in. Tip-ins like these allow me to clearly read all of the text on my Bible's page but to also include extra illustrations. The plastic also protects the illustrations from smudging.  Right, on the backside of my tip-in, I've written the poem by Russell below.

Focus On The "Tipped-In" Illustration.

       In the book trade, a tipped-in page or, if it is an illustration, tipped-in plate or simply plate, is a page that is printed separately from the main text of the book, but attached to the book.

       A tipped-in page may be glued onto a regular page, or even bound along with the other pages. It is often printed on a different kind of paper, using a different printing process, and of a different format than a regular page.

       Some authors include loose pages inserted into a book as tipped-in, but in this case, it is usually called an insert instead.

       Typical uses of tipped-in pages added by the publisher include:

• color illustrations, generally printed using a different process (e.g. intaglio or lithography) and on different paper
• an author's signature, signed on a blank or preprinted page, before the book is bound
• original photographic prints
• maps, often larger than the book format and folded to fit
• coupons or reply cards
• errata sheets, only produced after the printing run
• a short addendum
• a replacement for a missing, damaged, or incorrectly printed page

       Owners of books may also tip in such items as:

• a letter from the author
• a review

       Tipped-in pages are generally glued to a bound page on its inner side and may be called "paste ins". 

       I photographed one of my oil pastel paintings, (also based upon Genesis 1:17-18.) printed and framed it with an illustration of a silver picture frame. Then I tipped in the image, after sewing it between thin plastic sheets, using washi-tape. I also included the verse by George William Russell below on the backside of my tip-in. You can download and print the same silver frame illustration for your own version of this lesson if you'd like. It is for personal bible journaling only.

George William Russell.

Master of the Beautiful,

Creating us from hour to hour,

Give me this vision to the full

To see in lightest things Thy power-

This vision give, no heaven afar,

No throne, and yet I will rejoice,

Knowing beneath my feet a star,

Thy word in every wandering voice.

by George William Russell

Clip art of the silver frame I made for this entry.
You may print it and insert your own photos
or illustrations for a framed journal tip-in.

Focus On Listening.

"God of Wonders" sung by Third Day

More Video About Tipping-In:

• What is a tip in?
• How to Use Tags and Tip-Ins
  

"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...