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

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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

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