Scripture of the Week

“You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the desert overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.” Ps 95:11-13

I love Spring. No kidding, I mean my spirit is lifted, my heart refreshed, my demeanor brightened by the the leaves that are popping out, the flowers that are blooming. There is something about the dead, bare, desolate winter that is taxing to my soul….and something about Spring that is a balm to my Spirit.

This week, your challenge is so simple. Grab your camera and go outdoors. Take a few pictures of the new growth, and enjoy the creative mind of the Artist who sends Spring annually. Notice the colors, shapes and brushstrokes He creates with, and praise Him for the diversity. If you feel led, come back and use this as your prompt. Create a project in your album, art journal, or whatever, that praises the God of Spring. Enjoy!

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective, the faith booking blog sponsored by Scrapbook News and Review.

Scripture of the Week

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col 3:17

We all have things in our lives we'd really rather not do. What's yours? Come on, be honest. What is it that you know you should do, that you just dread? Does your attitude reflect it? Here's a simple way to know the answer to that question- do the other people in your life know that you hate it? If they can see from your attitude that you despise that activity, you're not doing it in the name of Jesus.

Here's your challenge this week. It's 2 part and I'm going to make it short, sweet, but not so easy. Name the one thing you dread most, and do it for Jesus, in the name of Jesus. Do a project that names your dread, give it over to Jesus, and pledge yourself to this verse.

Simple verse. Hard lifetime of learning to apply it, huh? Good luck.

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of the faith booking blog of Scrapbook NEws and Review magazine. We invite you to join us!

Scripture of the Week

"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Heb 9:15

Easter is coming, and with it, rememberences of Christ's sacrifice for us. Sacrifice- now there's a word we just don't hear very often, anymore. We don't sacrifice, we buy, grow, add things to our collections. We rarely do without much, do we?

This week, your challenge is to think of something you have sacrificed in the past, or are willing to sacrifice now. Not forever, but how about a season? It's Lent, it's the perfect time for a sacrificial rememberance. Consider scrapping a page, adding a page to your art journal, or writing out a prayer that dedicates this sacrifice to God and His glory.

You might be suprised at how much giving up something can add to you.

Scripture of the WEek is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective, the faithbooking blog hosted by Scrapbook News and Review. We invite you to join us!

Scripture of the Week

"let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Heb 10:25b

I don't know about where you live, but it is the doldrums of winter, here. It's still grey and cold and everything is dead...and it's tiring. I'm ready for some life, some color. And, I'm not the only one, either. All around, people are drudging through, plowing on, hoping to make it. We only have a few more weeks, but that can seem like forever, when all you've been looking at for months at a time is dead grass and dead trees.

This week, I want to encourage you to be an encouragement. Is there someone in your life- spouse, child, friend- who could use an uplifting word? Is there someone you could make a card for, and encourage that way? Is there someone that could use a bit of prayer support? we are called, by God, to stand united together...Let's be an encouragement, one to the other...


Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective- the faithbooking blog sponsored by Scrapbook News and Review. We invite you to join us for fun, faith fiulled ideas, and friendship.

Scripture of the Week

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phil 4:8

I've been on vacation for the last week, and enjoying myself immensely. Nothing too fancy, no grand destinations, no grand plans- and that was the predesigned beauty of it all. Just a chance to rest and recharge. Last night, I chose to rent a movie that most of my preschool class has seen...one that was marketed to the younger crowd. I won't name any names, that's not the point. What is? I watched this movie, and was appalled at the language and off color jokes. I walked away with this verse in my head. Do we apply it to our tv viewing? movies? video games?

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not perfect. I have what I call bubblegun shows- no point, very little plot, but they're fun. But they are also the type of shows that you don't think about again. I'm still thinking about the movie from last night. My plea, this week, is an encouragement- do you moniter your video intake...for yourself, and your children? As you are monitering it for your children, do you explain to them why they are not watching a certain show--what you find questionable? Some day, they will be making these choices, on their own. Are you training them to make wise choices?

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective- the faithbooking blog and column sponsored by Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. We invite you to join us!

Scripture of the Week

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7

Have you been Christmas shopping, yet? Fought the crowds, hunted the sales, made your lists and found the perfect gift for eveyone on your list? It can be a maddening, fun, exciting time. for a child, the anticipation of Christmas is opening the gifts. For an adult, the anicipation comes in watching the gifts as they are received.

Have you opened your Christmas gift, this year? God gave to us the most precious gift of all in the form of Jesus. Through Him, we have the gift of eternal life, and life abundantly in Him. Have you received and accepted that joy? God is waiting to watch your reaction as you open your gift, this holiday season!

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective, the faithbooking blog and column hosted by Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. We invite you to join us!

Scripture of the Week

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. " John 1:1-5

Have you started your Christmas preperations, yet? Maybe you've done a little shopping, made a few gifts, or planned who will be coming for dinner. Have you started decorating for Christmas, yet? the tree, the ornaments, all the lights...they are just so beautiful. The Bible says that Christ is the light of the world, the one true light at Christmas and throughout the year.

We put up trees, stockings and treasured ornaments, every year. We decorate our homes inside and out. But, do we shine the one true Light of Christmas? Do we remember, portray, and lift up the one true Light? I have an idea, this year. One less decoration, one less party, one less gift, this year...this is my suggestion. Instead, one more act of kindness, one more person told, one more life reached, one more block of time spent with Him. This is how we shine the Light. This is how we really 'decorate' for Chirstmas.

Scripture of the week is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective, the faith booking blog sponsored by Scrapbook NEws and Review Magazine. We invite you to join us!

Scripture of the Week

"The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song."

~Psalm 28:7

I confess, this is one of my favorite images of God- my strength and my sheild. Let's face it, you have the Creator of the Universe as your sheild, there is just not much that's going to get through. there are other verses in the Bible that refer to God as "going before me, and my rear guard". Again, these are great images- God is here. He is in control. When allowed to be in control, when trusted, there is nothing that can stand against Him. Now, if that's not something to give thanks for, I don't know what is!

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of A Faith PErspective- the faithbooking blog hosted by Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. Join us!

Scripture of the Week

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High; to declare Thy loving-kindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness by night... For Thou, O Lord, hast made me glad by what Thou hast done, I will sing for joy at the work of Thy hands. How great are Thy works, O Lord! "

-Psalm 92:1, 4-5


Are you almost ready for thanksgiving? No, not the holiday. Not all of us live in a country where the holiday is celebrated. But, are you ready for thanksgiving? Are you ready to live in a perpetual attitude of thanksgiving. Thanking God in the morning, all day long, and in the evening. Doesn't leave a large portion of the day open to complainging, does it?

Thanksgiving is an attitude, joy is a decision, and praise is a lifestyle. So..are you ready for thanksgiving?

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective, hosted by Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. We invite you to join us.

Scripture of the Week

1 Chronicles 29:11-13 (KJV)

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.

Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name."
We devote almost a month to the celebration of Christmas, there are decorations, parties, presents. I am not saying that is inappropriate, either. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. How can you not get excited at the thought of a God that loves you so much, He said aside His Godhood to be born a babe?!
A month for Christmas, and a day for Thanksigiving. Hmmmm.... This month, Scripture of the Week is going to focus on Thanksgiving. this week, have you given God the glory for your wealth and honor? Not rich, you say? Are you reading this on a computer? Did you eat a meal today? Are you clothed, right now? We live in the most affluent time in human history. We are blessed beyond measure. Praise God for all the many things I take for granted on a daily basis! forgive me, Lord, for all the many things I take for granted on a daily basis!

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature at A Faith Perspective, the faith blog and column hosted by Scrapbook News and Review. We invite you to join us!

Scripture of the Week

"As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? " Psalm 42: 1-2

Do you thirst for God? I am just going to be honest, and transparent, and let you know- I struggle with this. I truly want to know, love, and honor God more. I want to live my daily life in a manner pleasing to Him. I want to be one of those people that others see and are drawn to the Light shining from inside me. I want all of these things. Then life happens. The day is busy, the kids are sick, the bills come early, the (whatever) breaks down, I'm tired...dang, there are a lot of different obstacles that get thrown in our way, aren't there? During those times--am I thirsting for Jesus?

As a deer pants for water...I love the word pictures the Bible paints. A deer needs water in order to survive--and they are pretty obvious about it, too. I need Jesus in order to survive, no doubt. My encouragement for you all, this week is this: are you being obvious about it? Are you making your time with Jesus a priority? More importantly, are you allowing Jesus to walk with you throughout the day as a constant companion? Deers don't drink once a week. They don't walk away and not give water another thought. They stick close to water sources. Let's stick close to our Source.

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature of A Faith Perspective, the faith based blog and column hosted by Scrapbook News and Review. Come on over and pay us a visit, we would love to meet you!

Scripture of the Week

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Gen 1:27

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

One of my all time favorite attributes of God is His creativity. I stand amazed, on a regular basis, that He created the universe in a breath. The infinite diversity, the amazing combinations of elements and beauty. It is simply mind boggling to me! I play at being creative. I love this thing called paper crafting, it gives me a creative outlet and an opportunity to express my heart in a tangible way. Then I look at what God has created, and am blown away at the heart that it reveals.


Of all of creation, of all of the incredible things that God has created, the one things that stands at the center as His most amazing feat would be my clean heart. I know how that yicky old thing started out, and I can promise you this, it was not pretty. Oh, people who know me, or who knew me before I was a Christian would tell you I was a basically good girl, a nice person. So, how bad could it have been, right? Compared to the holy standard God sets, a stinking piece of rotting flesh. Bad, right?

But, God created the world in six days. He rested on the seventh. And a few thousand years later, He sent His Son. The result? One clean heart beating in my chest a few thousand years later. Praise God.

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Scripture of the Week

"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Gal 5:13-14

Oh my word, I am so sore!! But it was so freakin' cool, it was worth every ache...today was our church's Great Day of Service. Imagine it...over 2000 volunteers met at the church for prayer, then headed out into the community (of about 55,000) for service work, in the name of Christ. We are talking about entire neighborhoods swarming with people doing yardwork, trimming trees,up on ladders, painting. There were clothing drives, visits to nursing homes, shelters, food banks...you name it, we probably had a team doing it. We had the city involved in the planning- and so excited they even organized and added more to our number- then closed down a 3 block section of main street for us for an after party.

I have to say, it really was cool to go into these run down neighborhoods, work our little hearts out, and just look around and see hundreds of others working their heart out, too...and the change in the neighborhoods was cool, too. But, oh, am I sore...not use to using big old loppers to cut back overgrowth for hours at a time...

Imagine what a difference we, as Christians, could make in the world, in this generation, if people got used to seeing us out, sweaty, and working our tails of in the name of the Saviour. Imagine how attitudes and perceptions would change...and, oh- how Heaven would fill up as they asked about our Joy and Reason. I can't wait to scrap this one...such a great day.

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature on A Faith Perspective...Have you joined us on A Faith Perspective yet? This is a community of Christian crafters sponsored by Scrapbook News and Review that is dedicated to serving the Lord and uplifting each other. We would love to have you, come on over and pay us a visit!

Scripture of the Week

"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." I Peter 2:4-5

Living Stones. You know, scripturally, there are two purposes for stones. Stones were used to destroy, as in to take someone out of the village and stone them. Or they were used to build up, as in a strong fortress, a wall around a city, a shelter. The question this week is very simple, very straight forward: Which kind of stone are you? Are you allowing Christ to use you to uplift, encourage, instruct and train others in righteousness? Are you a shelter for people when they are wounded? Or are you the one hurling the stones?

This is from the Scripture of the Week over at A Faith Perspective, the faith blog sponsered by Scrapbook News and Review. For more resources, community, and Spirit, we invite you to come over and join us!

Scripture of the Week

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. " James 1: 2-4

A couple of weeks ago, I was awakened at 5 AM by my beloved sister crawling up the stairs to tell me she had fainted and hit her head...it that order. After quickly determining that she had lost basic cognitive skills- she couldn't even tell me a day of the week, or who the president of the US was, let alone dress herself- we headed off for the hospital. Everything turned out alright, Thank God. A moderately severe allergic reaction had caused the fainting.

Afterward, she remarked about my calmness. I didn't even appear worried, let alone scared. Are you kidding? I was scared spitless, lol. But even in the midst of the unknown, even in the midst of the fear, I was so profoundly grateful. Because it wasn't my job to handle this alone. I didn't have the ability to make her all better. Heck, I don't even know how these bills are going to get paid. But, I know the one who could handle it, make her better, and ultimately, pay the hospital bills. And that was joy!

Scripture of the Week is a regular feature on A Faith Perspective...Have you joined us on A Faith Perspective yet? This is a community of Christian crafters sponsored by Scrapbook News and Review that is dedicated to serving the Lord and uplifting each other. We would love to have you, come on over and pay us a visit!