Third Easter Painting Giveaway Winner

These are the names I received in the comment box of yesterday's post. THANKS to EVERYONE who came to Joy Treasure to enter. I was so excited to see new people entering the Easter Free Art Giveaway.

                                                                      Here we go again!!!1

                                                                       In the bowl we go!

                                                               And the winner is............???

                                                     Congratulations to Cyndi Stephenson!!!!

Stay tuned to Joy Treasure. I will be giving more paintings away later. Excited about what is yet to come!!

Third Easter Painting Giveaway Today!!!!! Enter Today on the Blog!

How I love, love, love this cross!! I call it my patchwork cross.
I pray whoever wins it will be reminded that they are never without hope because of Christ. He is our hope!!!!


How to Enter:
1. Click on Comment under this post. (follow the promptings of the comment box)


2. Leave your first and last name in the comment box.


3. Giveaway ends at midnight tonight Monday March 28th.


4. I will put all the names in a bowl and my son will draw a winner from the names listed in the comment box.


5. Winner for this painting will be posted in the morning.


All names must be entered in the comment box of this post not other posts.
Thanks!!!!!


I am so thankful I get to share the love of Christ through art. It's my joy and honor to serve you here on the Joy Treasure blog! Thanks for your support and encouragement!

2nd Easter Painting Giveaway Winner

Thanks to all who entered for the second Easter painting! I am sorry some of you were having trouble with the blogger comment box. I did enter all of you who got in touch with me about it.I normally don't do this, but there were more than a few people who were having trouble. I combed through Facebook and my blogger posts to make sure I had everyone who wanted to enter for the second painting.

                                                                        Here we go!

                                                                       We got one!!

                                                           It looks like........

                                                        Alissa Simpson! Congratulations!!!!!

2nd Easter Painting Giveaway Today!

Today's painting is "He is Risen!"
I call it the fun cross! It's looks happy to me!
I pray it will bring much joy to your home!
Thanks for supporting the Joy Treasure Blog!


How to Enter:
1. Click on Comments under this post.
2. Leave your name in the comment box of this post.
3. Giveaway ends at midnight tonight Tuesday March 27th.
4. I will put all the names in a bowl and my son will draw a winner from the names listed in the comment box.
5. Winner for this painting will be posted in the morning.

Thanks for dropping by Joy Treasure! Christ is Risen!!!!!!

Monday's Winner of the Easter Retro Cross

                                                              Names are being shuffled!

                                                              Oooh! We got one!

                                                                 Congratulations Gina!

Three Giveaways of Easter Paintings Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday!

This week I am doing something I have never done before. Give away three paintings in one week!
I am giving them away today, tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday.

                You DON'T have to be a blog member to win any of these giveaways this week!

Today's painting I am giving away is this one!!!! The retro cross!

Scripture on the cross is "Philippians 2:13"for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

How to Enter:
1. Click on Comment under this post.
2. Leave your name in the comment box.
3. Giveaway ends at midnight tonight Monday March 26th.
4. I will put all the names in a bowl and my son will draw a winner from the names listed in the comment box.
5. Winner for this painting will be posted in the morning.

Thanks for dropping by Joy Treasure! Christ is Risen!!!!!!

Fabulosity Friday- The Listening Part of 2012

So it's March 16th and three months away from the beginning of the new year. Are you changing? Are you growing in your relationship with God? Or are you the same. Stagnant.

I have posted about the "prepare" part of the two words God gave me this year. But I want to speak about the "listen" part today in this post.

I truly believe that God is speaking to us all the time. The older I get, the more I see the ways that He is speaking to me. And unfortunately, many of the ways that He is speaking to me, I shrug off as unimportant and meaningless. Just because it's not what I was looking for doesn't mean He isn't speaking to me.

What am I talking about?

I will explain in this post.

If you haven't read the other "Fabulosity Friday" posts I will get you up to date. I don't believe in resolutions. But I do believe that in each year we are to examine our hearts, our lives and seek the LORD through the reading of His Word and through prayer about what He has for us in terms of growth and change. The two words He gave me this year were:

So many times we want God to listen to us but we don't want to listen to Him. Then, when we want to hear from Him, we want Him to tell us what we want to hear. God speaks through His Word, other believers, and through our circumstances. But how many times do we pass up what He is trying to tell us?

This week, I desperately needed to hear from my LORD. I was talking to Him. ALOT! But the way He spoke to me was not the way I thought it would be.

The other morning when I was driving home from carpool, a black crow flew right in front of me with food in it's mouth.
                 This is the best picture I could find since I wasn't able to take a picture of it while I was driving!!

God clearly reminded me about Matthew 6:31-34 which says:

"So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Immediately I began to recall the faithfulness of the LORD in my life and knew He was telling me to continue to seek HIM at all times, especially at this time in my life. I was comforted because I remembered He was going to provide for all my needs- emotionally, physically and spiritually. I remembered that if He would take care of the birds, He would also take care of me.

Listening to the LORD is seeking to hear from Him continually. It's looking around you and not missing things and thinking they are by chance but are put there by God.

Just for Women Wednesdays-Where's Your PASSION?

What gets you up in the morning? 

What motivates you? 

What would people say is the passion of your life?

These three questions have one simple answer. It's in the WHO not the WHAT!! 

JESUS.

We are so busy looking for the "what" when it comes to finding passion that we miss finding our passion in our relationship with Jesus.

Is JESUS the passion of your life? 

Is HE the passion that drives you to look forward to another day? Is HE the passion that motivates you to be a better worker, wife, mother, business owner, artist, Sunday School teacher, friend, daughter, single woman,....? Is HE what others would first proclaim is the passion of your life? Girlfriend, IS JESUS the passion of your life? Is HE?

Sadly, this is what I believe our lives look like during most of the week:

                                      Empty of passion and filled with busyness with no real purpose.

Part of the fall recorded in the book of Genesis that we have to learn to deal with is learning how to survive in a fallen world. The word "survive" is key. And survival gets in the way of our passion for pursuing Christ. 

Let me say it again. Survival gets in the way of our passion for pursuing Christ. Because surviving here on earth is hard. Life is hard. Work is hard. Marriage is hard. Parenting is hard. Making and keeping friendships are hard. Everything is hard!!!! We find ourselves up to our eyeballs with hard life stuff and yet all the while our hearts are yearning and burning for something more. That craving deep inside that only you know about is a desire for Jesus. A desire to have Him be the passion of your life. 

I like one of Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary definition's in regards to passion:

"The state of the mind when it is powerfully acted upon and influenced by something external to itself;" (Source: http://topicalbible.org/p/passion.htm).

When we come to Jesus and read the Word of God, our mind changes. It is renewed and ready to get going. There is a spring in our step. A spiritual energy that is deposited into our soul to face the hardness of life. But when we are not seeking Jesus and leaving him on the shelf for a later time, our passion wanes. And we become hungry. Starving hungry!! We begin seeking passion in everything else and every other person other than Jesus. And we find ourselves silently unfulfilled. We find ourselves silently frustrated at our lives. It's a cycle we will have to struggle with until we meet Jesus in Heaven. But it doesn't have to be this way. It's really simple sister!

THE BIBLE + PRAYER + JESUS+ TIME= Passion for Christ

• Psalm 84:2 says it best:

"My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God."

Does your soul solely long for the LORD?

• Psalm 119:20

"My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times."

Is your soul solely consumed for the Word of God at all times?

• Psalm 42:2

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

Is your soul thirsting for a time to meet alone with God?

If yes, then your passion is growing and will continue to grow. Keep seeking Him dear sister!! Don't you dare stop!!! If your answer is no to all these questions, don't be discouraged. Your eyes have been opened to the state of your heart. Read through these Psalms again. Seek to memorize these Psalms and make them the prayer of your life. Act upon your relationship with the LORD. Come back to Him. Don't delay. Come quickly. Ask Him through prayer to give you a desire and hunger for Him and His Word alone. And there, dear sister you will find your passion.  

Just for Women Wednesdays-Bitterness and Free Time

What do you do with your free time? Some women will laugh when reading this question saying to themselves, "What free time!!! I have no free time!" That's the problem. Many women don't get a hold of time. They let time get a hold of them. If life is not planned, life will plan you. What women need more of is the ability to say "no" and to deliberately plan for things that make them enjoy life.... like a nice walk or coffee with a friend, etc. Without a moment of quietness and sanity, we wilt. We lose our joy because we feel like all we do is something for others all the time. The cycle continues when we complain about not having time than making time to plan a few things to do some things we enjoy.

I read an interesting article in the New York Times about women being the enemy of their own free time. I found it interesting but quite true. More interesting than the article were the 52 comments left by people in regards to the issue of free time. Some people shared how they hired help to clean their home so conflict could be avoided in their marriage while others boasted about leaving the dishes in the sink and sitting down to read a book for an hour. I don't have a problem with either one. What I felt came resonating through the article was an attitude of bitterness against men for not doing "their part" of the household chores. I believe many women struggle with harboring bitterness against their spouse for not helping with the household chores because they see them enjoy their own free time. Most men don't think about the chores. They want some down time. Harboring this attitude as a women only adds to conflict in a marriage.

How do you become a woman who doesn't harbor bitterness about doing chores at home when you feel like you do them all the time? How do you find a few minutes to enjoy some free time?

Saying Goodbye to Idleness

"She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27

God has called women to be watchful over the affairs of the household not be watchful over email, Facebook, twitter and the Internet. Take care of these things. But don't let technology rule your life. These things are all good but we have to not let them lead us to becoming idle. Being watchful means we know what needs to be done. It means we delegate tasks. One of the greatest ways women sabotage getting their husband to help them is simply harboring an attitude of resentfulness instead of humbly, kindly asking for help. The best way to do this is to ask your husband to help you and give him a time frame that it needs to be done by. He can't read your mind. If he can't do it by the time you ask, talk through (lovingly) what would be a realistic time frame for the task to be done. If your husband doesn't help at all and resents you asking him, pray. Pray for God to change his heart.

Taking Ownership of Your Witness

"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,"  1 Peter 3:1
                                                                                                   

We have a witness in our home. Whether your husband is a believer or not a believer, he is watching how you conduct yourself inside the home. Are you a witness pointing him toward Jesus? Or are you complaining all the time about how you do 'this' and that you are so tired and never get any help? The more we take this kind of attitude the less we have a godly witness in our home.


Learning to Say "No"
The more we say "yes" to things, the more we bring conflict into marriage. The more things we do outside the home make our home off balance. Learn to ask yourself, "Is this something that only I can do? Can they find someone else to do it besides me? What is my motivation for saying yes? If I take on another thing will it benefit my family or take more time away from my family? The greatest word you can say is "no." You don't have to be everywhere all the time and do everything for everyone. Let God raise up other people to use their gifts too.

Carving Out Free Time
Free time means to have down time. I am not talking about having three hours of free time or having a "me day." I am talking about setting aside time in each day to read, think, do something you like to do. 30 minutes. 20 minutes. 1 hour. Whatever time you can get. Time to recuperate and relax. Time to let your mind not think about anything and everything. The only person who can carve out is you. Your friend cannot do it for you. Your husband cannot do it for you. Only you can do it. Look at your schedule, analyze it and search to be diligent and disciplined to carve out time where you can. You will be so glad you did.

To read more about the article in the New York Times click here:

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/are-women-enemies-of-our-own-free-time/

Manna Monday- Thinking Lowly of Yourself

I admit it. Sometimes I think too highly of myself. I don't mean to. But sometimes I do.
But I am not the only one who does it. You do it too.

What do I mean?
Sometimes I think I am living the Christian life like I should. I'm nice to others, giving, loving, helpful, prayerful,  etc. Sometimes I think I am doing the right things in life and even then, I am thinking highly of myself. At times, I am not even aware of this heart attitude. It's when I come to the LORD and read His Word that I am reminded that nothing good resides in me but Christ. The more I think lowly of myself, the more I see how glorious Jesus is and how wretched I am. Nothing good is in me except Christ. He is the ONLY good thing in me.

I have been praying through the prayers in the book Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. The one prayer I read and prayed recently has left a huge reminder that I am nothing.

A couple of the phrases in this prayer hit home to my heart:

"When my mind acts without thee it spins nothing but deceit and delusion;"

"When my affections act without thee nothing is seen but dead works." 

"for I am vile and selfish; yet I seek thee,"

 I circled the last part of the prayer: "to see my all in Thee. The entire last sentence of the prayer says:

"Grant that I may distrust myself, to see my all in thee."

This is my prayer. To not trust in my good works or in how good I am living the Christian life. To place all of my trust in the person of Jesus Christ continually. To see myself as nothing, to think lowly of myself.

Consider the following scriptures:

• Romans 12:16
• 1 Corinthians 10:12

When we think we are right..... we think highly of ourselves.

When we think we are better off than other people....we think highly of ourselves.

When we think we are strong and that nothing can shake us....we think highly of ourselves.

When we think we are a good person....we think highly of ourselves.

Instead of choosing to think highly about yourself, daily remind yourself that there is nothing good in you except Jesus Christ.