The True Lamb

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:19 KJV

When I was a little baby I was given a very special gift that I still treasure to this day. Some kids might sleep with blankets. Others might sleep with Beanie Babies, but I sleep with a lamb.

Lambie and I have gone through almost everything you could say. We’ve gone on many different vacations. She’s been there when I was sick and of course she’s there when I’m asleep.

As special as Lambie is to me, there is another Lamb that is way more important than her…It’s Jesus Christ, the True Lamb.

Usually, Lambie comforts me and makes me feel really calm, but she can’t always go with me everywhere. In the Bible Jesus promises to always be with us and comfort us whenever we need Him to.

My brother might say sometimes, “Don’t you think you’re a little too old to sleep with that?” or “I’ve stopped sleeping with my toys and I’m seven don’t you think you should stop by now?!” Yes I know I might be a teensy bit old to still sleep with a stuffed animal and I know I’ll grow out of it some day, but I do know one thing, I’ll never outgrow the True Lamb.

Creativity

The rule was that the artist could use only one sheet of paper.

Do you think this is amazing?

Wait 'til you see what God can do!!

Photo Contest

We are looking for photos that could appear in any of our upcoming devotions or columns. As you see in this devotion, GGM likes to add photos that help give you a visual of the scripture being shared.

Here are some ideas of photos that can be submitted:

-Any water ways, such as rivers, streams, waterfalls, oceans, etc.

-Flowers in bloom and/or in bud form that shows life.

-Any kind of pathway or road that portrays a scenic expression.

-Trees that show God's majesty

We are planning to use these photos in upcoming articles and each photo chosen will receive an 'Editor's Choice' award tag from Growing in Grace and be entered into a contest to win a Premium BetterPholio at BetterPhoto.com , the world's largest online photography school.

Your BetterPholio will give you webhosting on their site for one year to show off up to 300 of your very own photos, valued at $22.

Contest Guidelines:

-You MUST be 18 or under, with a minimum age of 10.

-All 18 year old girls need to be under their parents authority and still living in their home.

-Photos must be of appropriate nature.

-This contest must not include any pictures of people, scenes only please.

-Photos must be in their original form. Do not alter, enhance, or resize the image.

-One photo per entrant per week. (This allows you to enter up to 6 photos, one a week for the next 6 weeks)

-Deadline for entries will be April 1, 2008. All entries are to be sent via e-mail in their original form to our photo department.

The photographer retains all rights to their photo and we will add a watermark indicating your chosen information when being used on Growing in Grace. When you send in your submissions be sure to let us know what you prefer on your watermark (ie; first name and last initial, and/or blog title)For additional help and guidance in photography click over and see what BetterPhoto.com has for Kids! YOu can see Lady Mj's Album and Sisterlisa's as well. You can sign up for a free BetterPhoto Gallery and be able to show off up to 20 images for free.

Have fun and be sure to let your friends know by using this graphic:

A Map of Your Heart

This is a from Melodoy at Wrapped Emotions.

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Knowing what you truly love is the key to loving how you live. A simple way to begin to know what you truly love is to gather beautiful images that speak to your soul. So, let's do just that.Gather scissors, glue, your favorite magazines and your art journal. Place them all together in a basket or other container and keep it by your bed. At night after the kids are asleep, the day's responsibilities are (hopefully) taken care of and you can devote a few minutes of relaxed down time (stop laughing), crawl up on your bed and flip through the magazines. When you see a picture you love, cut it out and paste it in your art journal. Spend several quiet moments doing this. When finished, put your journal away for another night.

I realize that night may not be your relaxing time or your bed may not be your comfy contemplative place, adjust accordingly. Find your spot.

Now listen to me because this part is very important. Do not over think your choices. You do not need to have a reason why an image speaks to you...it simply must speak to you. Also, do not plan or fret over the arrangement of the images on the page, just paste them on a page one at a time. Let your collages happen, evolve.

Now listen to me again. If you begin this one night and the love is not flowing, drop it. You will know if you are forcing the process. Also, do not feel like you must work on this every night.

At the end of two weeks, (yes, do this for two weeks) crawl onto your bed, snuggle up with your art journal and look at the pages you have created. I expect that you will find colors, patterns, themes, styles, things...something...which reveals loves, hopes, passions you've never realized. Your collages will give you directions where your heart wants to go...a map of your heart. Try it.

Tell me, where does the map of your heart lead?

Here's the creation I made.

This shows a few things about me like my fav. colors and patterns.

Guess What?!?

Guess what everyone I just got an award for my blog!! The big reason I'm so happy is because this is my first award ever on Blogger! I just want to give a big thanks to Debbie at Just My Thought. She has a great blog that you should really check out.

I'm going to be passing this specal award on to MJ, Jess, Angie, and Wanda.
Thanks again for stoping by at Liv Laf Luv see you later!

~Olivia

Finding the Good

For this whole week I've been sick and in bed. Drousy, tired, weak...most of those words pretty much explain the way I have been feeling. All though I haven't exactly been my normal self God has always helped me out when I haven't felt good before and I'm pretty sure that He's going to help me out this time.

While I have been home I was reading a couple of books I got for Christmas. It's about ten women who have changed the world and made history. Here are some of the people Elisabeth Elliot, Amy Carmichael, Joni Erickson Tada and a few others. As scanning down the page I saw that Amy C. had got very sick when she was older and was forced to stay in bed for about TWENTY YEARS! Wow I had ony been sick for a few days and look how long she had been sick! This had made me real grateful!

God did a beautiful thing with Mrs. Carmichael. He heard every single prayer she had spoken. God was there with Amy whenever she needed Him and He's going to be there for me just like he was for Amy.

M&M Gospel ~ A Sweet Story

The M&M's tell a wonderful story by their colors! Enjoy this great way of sharing the gospel that I learned from Miss Lisa and MJ. If you haven't been to Growing in Grace, you really should!

The Dark Chocolate M&M: There's a darkness in this world that we all battle from day to day. This battle is the war between our flesh and our spirit and that entity we fight with is called sin. Sin is a dark nature within us that we cannot escape on our own. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Dark chocolate is bittersweet and sin has it's pleasure for a season, but is not profitable for our relationship with Jesus. In fact, we cannot get to heaven on our own, because of sin.

The Yellow M&M: The yellow M&M reminds me of Heaven for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that the streets of heaven are made of pure gold. The second reason is that the Son of God sits at the right hand of the Father and loves us very much! Jesus wants us to be in Heaven with all His heart, but sin is not allowed in Heaven. God has always known that we sin, but makes Him sad because He knows sin cannot enter His heavenly home. Then Jesus raised his hands and said, "I'll go Father. I'll go to earth and teach the people how they CAN know for sure they can get to heaven to be with you." The Father and Son both know that there is a payment for sin and that payment must be fulfilled. Someone must pay that sin debt, but it has to be someone that has never sinned. That's when Jesus came to earth in the form of a man and lived a perfect life.

The Red M&M: After Jesus was grown and had begun his ministry here on earth, He knew the time was nearing that the sin debt would need to be paid for. Many people did not believe that He is the Son of God, as a matter of fact, they thought He was lying to them when He told them that "Whosoever believeth in me shall not perish, but have everlasting life and that no man cometh unto the father but by me." The people did not believe him and the penalty was death. Jesus knew this was going to be his fate one morning, but he willingly went forward, recalling His words to the Father, that He would volunteer to pay the sin debt so that all mankind could be in heaven one day. Jesus was lead to Calvary, after being beaten so severely that people could not even tell that he was a man. On the cross of Calvary that day, Jesus stretched out his arms and died for you and for me. His shed blood was the sacrifice needed for our sins to be forgiven.

The White M&M: Yes there IS a white M&M, it's just not in the classic bag you see in stores today, but rather through the customized option on their site and in some candy stores throughout America's malls. The White M&M brings me great joy, for it is the white that indicates the washing of our sins. Jesus's blood washed us white as snow, so that our sin is not seen by the Father anymore. It's the proof that we are forgiven for our sin nature and our ticket to enter the pearly gates of Heaven.

One thing I could never understand is that the old motto of the M&M's candies is, "They melt in your mouth, not in your hand." Yet, my M&M's always left a smudge of chocolate on my hands. My mom could always tell if I had gotten into the M&M bags. Although we are forgiven by the Father, we still sin each and every day. After all, we're not perfect and we will always make mistakes. When we sin it does leave it's mark on us, whether it be through the tone of our voice, the expressions on our faces, and even the images within our own minds. That daily sin will not cause us to lose our home in heaven, but it will cause us to have a difficult time communicating with the Savoir. His Holy Spirit resides in the hearts of all those who have trusted in His death as the payment for their sin. The Holy Spirit wants to talk to us every day and express God's love and mercy to us through various ways. When we live in sin, making no effort to communicate with the Father, it makes it difficult for us to hear Him speaking to us.

The Green M&M: It's very important to keep your hands clean. Anytime that chocolate smudges onto your hands, wash it off right away. We do this by GOing to the Lord and confessing our sin and apologizing to God right away. If we go any length of time without saying we're sorry for our daily mistakes, it leaves chocolate fingerprints on everything we touch.If you have never believed in the Lord with your heart and you'd like to today, just tell Him. Just talk to God like you would talk to a friend or your mom. Tell Him you believe He is real and that He died for you. Admit you aren't perfect and that you know you can't get to heaven on your own because of your sin. Trust that He will say yes, because His very own Word, the Bible says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Once you have believed in Him with your heart and have communicated to Him that you want him to save you from sin and let you in heaven, He will ALWAYS be with you! You will still make mistakes every day, but God has forgiven you. Just remember the Green M&M telling you to GO to the Father and say you're sorry when you do make mistakes. His love and mercy is never ending!

Jesus Take the Wheel