Inspire Bible -by Sharon King

On Good Friday I received my long awaited Inspire Bible.  As I browsed through it I immediately fell in love with it. You see although I love creativity, I cannot draw very well, although with practice it is improving. Isn't that true about life as well that with practice we improve???!!!!

Anyway as I looked at the beautiful line art, I knew this Bible was just what I needed, but I was also aware that it wasn't just about colouring the pictures, it was about learning more about God, His love, His Word and His direction.

The first picture I coloured was on Easter Sunday evening and I felt it was appropriate  to colour something relevant to Easter.

As you can see the verse is from Matthew 28:6. I coloured this picture using Crayola Twistable pencils.  The first lesson I learnt was that I had pressed to hard with the pencils as it left several pages with indentations. Relating this to life I thought about the impressions we make on people's lives, and this can either have a positive or negative effect.

I have been a keen scrapbooker and crafter for a long time.  If you are anything like me you buy materials and use them for a season and then very often they seem to go into natural hibernation!

As I looked at the double page spread on the inside front cover, I was thinking about how I could colour this when I remembered some gel pens I had purchased about 6 years ago.  They were the Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Pens.  On finding them I decided these would be right for that page. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that the ink hadn't dried up, but I guess that was because of the money I had invested in them, they certainly weren't cheap when I bought them!!!

Once again that is like us on life. When we invest in people's lives our time will not be wasted because we have spent quality time with them and made a difference as we have shared God's love with them.

I was really pleased with the result, especially the glitter effect. I then wondered whether I would be able to use these pens on the thinner pages of the Bible.

There is a Facebook Group called 'Inspire Bible Journalers' and every week they suggest a page that everyone should colour and post.  It is interesting how the pages look different when they have been coloured by others participating.

Below are the pictures of the beginning of Joshua after being prompted to colour this by the Facebook Group. I have also included pictures to show the shadow that is visible from using the gel pens.

As I said earlier I didn't want this Bible to just be about colouring, so then I set myself a challenge - whenever I coloured what was perhaps a favourite text I would read the opposite page and pray that God would help me and inspire me to learn more about Him. The pictures below show a few of these pages.

There are times when I like to read the Message Bible Paraphrase.  This is mainly because it helps me to understand what God is saying to me, and speaks to me in a real and personal way. The last two pictures show how I have incorporated a tip-in with the Message bible paraphrase for Matthew 11:28!

I printed the tip-in on to a thin piece of card. Firstly I looked for a picture that I felt summed up this verse for me. I then pasted the words onto the picture.  Finally I added the full verse from the Message bible on the bottom of the card. Once I was sure the ink was dried, I then used my Sakura Stardust pens to highlight certain parts of the picture. Then using the same pens I traced over the words. 

Over the past few years there have been many times in my life when I haven't taken time to rest and recharge my batteries. I am continually asking God to teach me the unforced rhythms of life. The Inspire Bible is helping me to do this.

One last thing... whenever I colour, whether in my Bible or a colouring book, I use the time to pray. I find this allows me to focus on particular situations and people.

If you can afford to, I would encourage you to buy a Bible like the Inspire Bible, especially as over time it will become a very special, personal and unique Bible to own.

If at the moment, you feel you can't afford one of these Bibles look out for my next blog post where I will be sharing with you a very special colouring book that I have discovered.

The Colouring Craze - by Sharon King

Ever since I was a small child I have loved colouring. One of the favourite presents I received every Christmas was a Platinum Colouring set that my Aunt and Uncle gave me every year. I used to love spending Christmas Day afternoon, sitting at the table colouring.

Over the last year Adult Colouring Books seem to be everywhere and there seems to be so many different ones available.

I was spending time colouring long before the craze took off.

I have discovered that colouring is a great aid in my prayer time, over the last three years I have coloured in many pictures, nearly all of them with a Bible Text or some words of Spiritual encouragement. As I have coloured I have discovered that it helps me to focus, to spend time with God in a very special way.

I am one of those people who cannot draw, well at least that is my opinion!!!! So I thank God for the many talented artists who have been willing to share their work in such a way that encourages and helps me.

I first discovered Lindisfarne Scriptorium about 4 years ago when I visited the Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown. It was there I purchased my first colouring book. Mary Fleeson is a talented and God inspired artist who uses her art to bless others. Here are some of the pictures that I have coloured in over the last few years.

Some of her pictures are really intricate, and at times are challenging, but isn't that like life,there are times when things can be challenging and we need to persevere.

Others contain prayers, which as I have taken time to colour them in, the words have been digested into my heart and soul and have become so meaningful.

Some her pictures allow me to just praise God for who He is,

The above picture is one with words and a pattern, because the pattern is very involved it is still a work in progress!!! Just like our lives , they are works in progress with God forming us into what He wants us to be. Placing everything in its right place, filling our lives with colour and detail.

Sometimes we are not sure which way we should go or what we should do. Once again a prayer that I could use and pray through.

The Magnificat.

Sometimes as I am colouring God speaks to me in a very special way. This was one such occasion, I was struggling to work out the best way to go with a situation I was facing. As I prayed and coloured God reminded me that He was with me in the Mess. I didn't have to struggle alone because He was surrounding me with His love. He was enough in every situation. So I annotated the picture to remind me of this.

All of these pictures come from the book below by Mary Fleeson called Multicoloured Prayers, you can purchase this through Lindisfarne Scriptorium.

In my next blog I will share some more books from them.

So, let me ask you a question, when did you last colour a picture.?

Can I challenge you to experiment in your prayer time. I am not saying this is right for everyone but it works for me.

As I colour I listen to the devotion from the Pray As You Go App, as I listen to the Bible Reading, I colour, and as I colour I consider what is being read, and the thoughts I have help me to pray in a more detailed way.

Why not give it a go and see what you think?

Finally I would like to share with you a picture I did a couple of years ago.

I pray that though this coming week you will truly appreciate the God colours in your life and be willing to share those God colours with others.