Ti Amo

Hello Friends,

The theme this month at Take Me Deeper (His Kingdom Come) is love. As always, there is a new verse every week, but I usually take a little longer to process things. My page summarizes the month for me.

I have a dear friend who is a devote Roman Catholic. Whenever she prays in her heavenly language (1 Corinthians 13 & 14) pure love just pours from her mouth. To me, it sounds kind of like French, though I don't speak it myself. For Christmas I asked the Lord for a gift. I wanted an intimate prayer language like my friend. It came December 30, 2014.

Surprisingly, my new prayer language did not sound like French; rather it sounded like Italian. I even picked up one repeated phrase from it - "Ti amo".

Journal page in progress

When I looked up the phrase I found that it has a very special meaning in Italian. It is used only for the most intimate of relationships and not even what a parent would say to her child. It is not said lightly and is only used for a person's 'one true love'.

My deepest desire and my frequent prayer for months has been for a deeper knowledge of God's love for me. Since I have received my new prayer language, my great desire is to also know how to more fully love (Ti amo) the Lord. The TMD verse for Week 2 of February says it all so that is the one I focused on for my February layout.

I added a tag, made from a handmade paper, on which I wrote the story of receiving my new love-prayer language.

First I cut out the face from a small intuitive painting and pasted it on my background. After sketching the dress, I painted everything with acrylics. My titanium white does not seem very white. To any of you artists out there, can you recommend a brighter white?

page with tag flipped back

Here is the complete page layout.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope I have inspired you in some way today.

Blessing hugs,
Teresa

Link-ups:
Word Art Wednesday - anything goes
Paint Party Friday - painting/art
Jo's Scrap Shack - anything goes
Art Journal Journey - Birds, Beasts and Humans

TO BE OR TO DO?

Hello Friends,

I have no art for you today; just some thoughts from my bible reading this morning. I have been reading the book of Ephesians in The Passion Translation. I highly recommend this translation. It is like reading the bible afresh, as almost for the first time.

"And he has appointed some in the body with grace to BE (my emphasis) apostles, and some with grace to BE prophets, and some with grace to BE evangelists, and some with grace to BE pastors, and some with grace to BE teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to DO their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of
Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12 TPT)

Those with the divine callings are instructed to nurture and prepare other believers to DO their own works of ministry. They are not told to prepare the holy believers to BE but to DO.

These works of ministry seem not so attached to the believer's persona as to what, perhaps, she is good at DOing. The prophet is born to BE a prophet and is meant to always BE a prophet. The average believer may DO different works of ministry at different times in her life, whatever she has grace to DO at each stage of her life.

As a child she may be able to witness to and pray for her classmates; as a teen and young adult she may have opportunities for mission trips; as a young mother her main ministry may be her family; as an empty-nester she may lead study groups or take mission trips; as a senior she may devote herself to prayer and may flow in the prophetic.

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men." (Col. 3:23 NAS)

Many believers stress out over what our'callings' are when it may simply be to do the work in front of us, but to do it with love for God and others.

Mother Theresa was known to say, "Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love."

My prayer:
Loving Heavenly Father, I ask for the grace to do the work set before me today; to do it heartily, as unto you, and to do it with great love.

Jesus Loves Me

Hello Friends,

After keeping the Take Me Deeper (His Kingdom Come) scripture from January Week 4 on my computer screen, reading it and thinking about it for the last two weeks, I finally completed an art journal layout for it. During the last hour of final touches I put Chris Tomlin's "Jesus Loves Me" on repeat. That is what I've decided to call this painting.

For about a week all I had was an old pattern piece decoupaged onto one page. Yesterday the idea for this painting came to me and I went to Paint My Photo to find a reference photo. I actually ended up using two photos - one for the body and one for the head. I did a tracing using carbon paper and then made some adjustments and additions with pencil, including the dove.

I painted the background with water colour paint in gray. I wanted him to appear to be opening his robe. I had to make a couple of adjustments to get it right. As you can see in this picture, his right hand appears to be sitting on top of the robe rather than grasping the material.

Here is where I left off last night. Unfortunately I forgot to finish his hands. You can see my initial wash, which is quite transparent. The reason I say "unfortunately" is because it is not always easy to remix your paint to match exactly what you had in the beginning.

Another thing I was able to do last night was to decoupage some papers on the facing page, covering the ugly pattern piece. But it still serves a purpose as it represents going beyond simply following a pattern in my walk of faith.

I painted streaks of red to represent the blood of Christ.

Therefore brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God.."

I added a heart with a great gash in the center to represent God's heart that was so broken for his children that he gave himself as the atonement for our sins. It was all for love that he came. He could no longer bear being separated from his children so he made the way for us to enter in the Most Holy Place of his Presence. After Jesus ascended into Heaven he sent his Holy Spirit - the very Presence of God - to live in any of us who would receive him. How glorious! I can actually have the very breath of Heaven living inside of me.

The sun rays on his face were an after thought, but I am glad I added them. As I painted them a verse came to my mind. I looked it up and wrote it on the page. "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine." (Isaiah 9:2)

Another scripture (Hebrews 12:2) says that Jesus was able to endure the cross because of the joy set before him. You are his joy, I am his joy, if we run into his open arms and let him love us. If we could imagine the most perfect mother, the most perfect father, longing to hold us, to comfort us when we weep, to laugh with us when we rejoice; if we could imagine that, we would catch a mere glimpse of how he loves us. In the words of Chris Tomlin's song, "Jesus, he loves me. He loves me. He is for me."

Thank you for visiting me today. I will leave you with this video and I pray you will feel the love of Jesus as you listen.

Blessing hugs,
Teresa

Linked to
Paint Party Friday

TMD - Week 3

Hello Friends,

A funny thing happened last week when I was trying to catch up with my Take Me Deeper bible studies on His Kingdom Come. I actually ended up re-doing the same study. But that was fine because I got something slightly different each time. This is the page I did most recently. The bible verse is 2 Corinthians 3:18.

I used a magazine cut-out and her 'veil' is a used dryer sheet. I love using those to add texture to mixed media pieces, usually by decoupaging them to my surface. I thought this made a convincing wedding veil, as though being lifted from her face. Can you see the coloured tag I tucked under her veil? It has my Logos365 phrase (make space) application on it.

When I focus on myself all I can see is all of my lack of beauty. Only when I gaze upon my beautiful Jesus do I start to see myself the way He sees me - a beautiful, spotless bride, created in his glorious image.

And here is the first layout I did for this study, previously published on my blog, Tickell Expressions. You can see details of it here.

Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate you taking the time to visit and I hope I have inspired you in some way.

Blessing hugs,
Teresa

Link-ups:
Paint Party Friday - art/paint

TMD - Week Two

Hello Friends,

If you have been following you know I started this blog mainly to share my 2015 Take Me Deeper art journal, a group project over at His Kingdom Come. Each Friday the TMD team presents a bible passage for the members to meditate on throughout the week.

Week Two's scripture is 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

 I did the background for the facing page at the same time because I like consistency. I made a flap, attached it with Washi tape and pasted the lion cubs magazine clipping on the front. The scripture is printed on the back of the flap.

I printed out the verse that stood out to me the most, cut it in the shape of a cup and pasted it below a magazine clipping of a church.

I belong to another group at His Kingdom Come called, "Logos365". Each member was to pray and ask God for a word to focus upon in 2015. The phrase, "Make space" came to my mind and I have been incorporating it into most of my pages. For Week Two's study I felt I was to focus on 'making space' in my weakness for God's strength to break through.

Sometimes - okay, often - I waste time bemoaning my weaknesses. Everything from health issues to lack of self-discipline gets me down on myself. How can God ever use such a pathetic, weak-willed woman as me?

So soon I forget what I already know: He loves me. He made me. He knows all about my weaknesses. He doesn't expect me to overcome them. He only asks that I offer them to him so that "Christ's power may rest on me."

I am delighted that you have visited me here on "A Closer Walk" today. I hope I have inspired you in some way. My deepest desire is that you would know the One who adores you beyond anything you could ever fathom. You are precious. You are loved.

Blessing hugs,
Teresa

Link-ups & Challenges:
Paint Party Friday - paint
Word Art Wednesday - anything goes
Crafting from the Heart - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Not Just Cards - anything goes

TMD Week One - Part Two

Hello Friends,

If you have been following you know I started this blog mainly to share my 2015 Take Me Deeper art journal, a group project over at His Kingdom Come. Each Friday the TMD team presents a bible passage for the members to meditate on throughout the week. Week One (January 2) the scripture was Romans 12:1-2. Each verse spoke volumes to me so I made a separate page for each. On Friday I posted my page for verse one. This post is about verse two.

The verse reads, "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is; his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)

The word, "pattern" caught my attention particularly. As I thought and prayed about it, I saw something that I had never seen about this verse before.

Tag is stapled to the page by the ribbon

I had always thought the verse meant, "Don't live a wordly, sinful life." It does mean that, in part, but when I dove into the meaning of the word "pattern" I saw something different. A pattern is anything that is repetitious and predictable. Like the gingham checked paper I used for my letters, the pattern is predictable: a pink square, a white square, a pink square, a white square and so on. It repeats itself; it is knowable, it is familiar, comfortable; safe. Not so with our God. As Mr. Beaver stated in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", "He's not a tame lion."

Tag flipped over

No one can ever fully know the depths of our God and his unfathomable love for us (Ephesians 3:18). We can search his depths and increase our knowledge of him, but we cannot do so by following a pattern.

As I meditated on this verse and the word 'pattern' I realized that sometimes my prayers are more dead ritual than living communion. I find myself saying the same things in the same way. This usually happens when I am ready to go to sleep or hungry to dig into a meal. I often pray, at those times, in a way that says I am not really expecting to connect with God at the moment; I am just in the habit of praying at these times. It is the pattern I have followed for many years. Am I going to stop praying before sleep or before meals? No, not at all. These are good spiritual disciplines and they do have value.

My husband kisses me whenever one of us leaves the house. Most kisses are light pecks, but I appreciate that he values me enough to do that. Now and again he stops long enough to give me a real kiss and I love those times.

In the same way, I think God appreciates that I value him enough to thank him for my food before I eat it and that I pray before I fall asleep, even if I am very tired. But he also wants me to take the time so he can give me 'a real kiss'.

When I breathe out his name and wait for his love to pour over me; when I meditate on his word and ask him to reveal its meaning to me; or when I go to bed early so I can pray before I am exhausted and longing for sleep -- these are the times when he will reveal himself more fully to me and when I can learn what his good, pleasing, perfect plan is for my life.

Another thing that can obstruct my being transformed by the renewing of my mind is holding fast to old patterns of belief. Let me say that I emphatically believe all scripture is given by the inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16). I also believe the Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). My understanding of God and of his written word should be continually growing.

Recently I read the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. The Lord revealed himself to her in profound ways that were not familiar to many of her religious leaders. She received many rebukes and was told that she was being deceived. This caused her great distress of mind and emotion.
 
Finally one wise priest prayed with her and advised her to submit herself to God, begging him to not let any deceiving spirit come near her. This priest believed that God's love for Teresa was greater than any deceiving spirit. Even though her many revelations, raptures and trances were not common to others at that time, she was growing in her understanding of God and of his love, for herself and for others. The beautiful transformation of her nature that took place as a result of her 'way of prayer', convinced most of her former critics that God was truly pouring his grace upon Teresa.

My phrase for 2015 is "make space". Its application for this verse is, "Make space for fresh revelation. Don't be held back by old patterns of belief."

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my new blog and to let me share a bit of my faith journey with you today.

Blessing hugs,
Teresa