Marydean Draws: Easter

Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

As some of us celebrate Lent and as Easter Sunday approaches, I want to meditate on a few verses and share a screensaver image for your phone.

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV)

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

Today's screensaver from 1 Corinthians 11:24 (KJV version) is available in Spanish and English. You can click on the images below and save to your phone.

PRAYING the Word

Can it be? Make it a reality to my heart,

That no one can be against me when you are already for me.

That you have already given me everything precious and good.

That nothing has been withheld from me, your dear child.

That no one can condemn me, because the judge has already justified me.

That nothing I could imagine, no pain or distress or trouble, present or future, could ever separate me from your love.

That, in you, victory is assured. And not just a close victory--a decisive, overwhelming one.

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, thank you (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file.

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

April 3, 2019

Broken for you 1 Corinthians 11:24 phone screensaver in Spanish and English

Do you celebrate Lent with your church family? Our church is Protestant but loosely adopts some of the church calendar, so we celebrate Advent in anticipation of Christmas and Lent in anticipation of, and preparation for, Easter. This year Lent begins on March 6 and ends on April 18.

I thought I'd share a few resources that you might find helpful:

These coloring pages are all found free here on the blog.

I've collected more coloring pages and printables on this Pinterest page.

This printable Lent art journal with readings and space to draw would work for both kids and adults. I like the idea.

My "Good News Story" card set comes with full color cards and black and white coloring pages and walks you through the Gospel story with selected verses from the beginning to Revelation. I think it would work well for Lent. You can get printed cards HERE or the printable file HERE (and just printable coloring pages HERE or the printed coloring book HERE). The printable version comes in Spanish too. Everything in the shop is 20% off through Friday this week.

How do you celebrate Lent with your family? Any resources I should add to my list?

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February 27, 2019

Lent & Easter Resources for your family

Sometimes it's hard to get on this blog and say encouraging things, whether from a place of my own personal trials or the ones I share with those I love.

And yet, the good news is still good.

I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all."

It's hard for me to reconcile the goodness of God and pain. My tendency is to push God away and seek other comforts.

Lord, now indeed I find

Thy pow'r and Thine alone,

Can change the leper's spots

And melt the heart of stone.

We are reading through Exodus for Lent with our community group (with the She Reads Truth plan). Yesterday I read about how the Israelites "turned aside quickly out of the way that [God] commanded them" and made a golden calf in their impatience for Moses to return from his meet-up with God on the mountain. Maybe they longed for a quick-fix God they could touch and feel and understand completely, rather than a God they could both fear and love, who operated on his own timetable (Exodus 32:8).

That is so often me, quick to turn aside from a faithful and patient following.

God is jealous for his glory and for my heart. Over and over, the Bible tells me that He loves me and long to comfort me, longs to save, longs to quiet me with his love.

"The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

So, back to pain. Running from pain only keeps me from running from His love. Running for other comforts keeps my unquieted by his love.

"Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love" (Jonah 2:8).

And running from our sin, hiding in the shadows, keeps us running from His grace and unfailing mercy.

For nothing good have I
Where-by Thy grace to claim;
I'll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calv'ry's Lamb

As I read through Exodus, I'm again impressed at the details God put into the establishment and creation of the temple in Exodus, and the way it intricately foreshadows and sets up all He planned to do and complete in Christ.

And when, before the throne,
I stand in Him complete,
"Jesus died my soul to save,"
My lips shall still repeat.

The patient God who set all that up and orchestrated, down to the very day, our salvation, is the God who knows you and your days. All his promises are "yes" in Jesus. What good would he then withhold from you?

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

The coloring page I'm sharing today is made up of the intersection of the words of "Jesus Paid it all" (the hymn in italics above) by Elvina Hall and the Scriptures in 1 Peter 3:18 and 2 Corinthians 1:20 intersect. It works a little differently in Spanish (my friend Abby helped me figure it out), but the meaning is the same.

You can download your coloring pages by clicking the images below:

PRAYING the Word

God, forgive me from running from the comfort and grace I could find in you. Thank you that your love is never failing. Mine fails; yours doesn't. Make me a patient, enduring worshipper of only You. Keep me running for, not from, your comfort and your grace.

QUESTIONS to consider:

1. How about you? What do you do with your pain? Where do you go for comfort?
2. What does it mean to you that "all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]" (2 Corinthians 1:20)?

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

March 14, 2018

Pain, Good news, and an Easter Bible Verse Coloring Page in English + Spanish

I can't think on much of anything more astounding than the sovereignty and patience of God in completing His plan for us.

"It is finished" was the final cry of Jesus on the cross as He surrendered up His human spirit.

Every prophecy was fulfilled.

A perfectly righteous life lived.

Every sin paid for.

The great enemies (Satan, death, and sin) defeated.

The veil (symbolic and physical) separating God and man torn (Matthew 27:50-51).

If "it is finished," where does that leave you and me?

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8:1 ESV)

"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him." (Colossians 2:13-15 ESV)

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:19-23 ESV)

"But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code." (Rom 7:6 ESV)

I could go on and on, recounting all that is ours in Christ.

"For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17 ESV)

Today's printable Bible verse coloring page is from John 19:30. You can download your page HERE in English or HERE in Spanish or by clicking on the image below!*

PRAYING the Word

Jesus, I want to grab hold of the joy that is mine in the work you finished on the cross. My heart can be so cold to glorious things. Forgive me. Thank you that I can draw near to you in full assurance of faith. Help me to serve you in the "new way of the Spirit," because you met the law's demands for me.

QUESTIONS to consider:

1. What did Jesus purchase on the cross for you that you find most comforting today?
2. What did Jesus purchase on the cross for us that might be good news for someone else today?

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

Scripture is from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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April 12, 2017

It is finished + John 19:30 Easter Bible Verse Coloring Page (English + Spanish)

I don't have a lot to write about today's art. It's enough just to meditate on these words of Jesus and the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus was forsaken by the Father for us, so that we would never have to taste forsakenness.
The Father turned His back on the Son as He bore our sins, an unimaginable disruption in the Trinity, so that God would never turn His back on us and our sins.

Meditate on these words when you feel unloved.

Meditate on these words when you wonder if Jesus would still have you come to Him in your state.

Meditate on these words when you find life dissatisfying.

My prayer is that this would lead you to worship Him, no matter your circumstances today. Like this song says, "Now my soul cries out Hallelujah."

You can download today's Bible verse coloring page is from Matthew 27:46 and Isaiah 53:3-4 HERE or by clicking on the image below.*

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

April 5, 2017

Forsaken for me + Matthew 27:46 and Isaiah 53:3-4 coloring page

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David." (Isaiah 55:1-3 ESV)

You know what I am confident that Jesus has to say to you right now?

Come.

That's what I hear Him speaking to my heart these days, and it's the message all over Scripture.

Creator God walks through the garden in the cool of the day, a garden now spoiled for His creatures by their own rebellion. God comes walking, and His creatures hide, thinking their nakedness and rebellious hearts are hidden from His sight (Genesis 3:8-9).

We are hiders, aren't we? We are fearful of His presence and His glory. We are wary of the light because "men love darkness" and light exposes our evil hearts (John 3:19).

I myself have every excuse for not coming:

My prayer life is a wreck. And what devotional life? Where do I even start?

Come. Let’s talk. Learn from me.

My life is chaos. If it would just calm down, then I could come.

Come.
Come poor and needy.

Come weak and wavering.

Come failing and distracted.

Come thirsty and hungry.

God can't possibly speak into this situation. Surely, He can't be what I need right now.
Come to me. Find rest in ME (Matthew 11:28-29). I am the bread of life. I am the living water. I have the words of life that you need.

Even in his dying hours on the cross, the hours that paid our debt and set us free, Jesus was still saying, "Come."

"One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."" (Luke 23:39-43 ESV)

Two men next to my Jesus. One hid from his own sins and hurled hate. One admitted his need and came to Jesus for saving.

Jesus did not equivocate or lecture in response to the asking. Jesus does not withhold Himself from those who ask:

"For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:8-11 ESV)

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16 ESV)

We can draw near to God with boldness and confidence because we know the greatness of the Savior and the finality of His work. Any hesitancy to draw near to God is on our part, not His.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20 ESV)

The deceiver crafts intricate and deceiving lies tailored to our weaknesses to keep us from coming to Jesus. Father, reveal the truth to our hearts through your Spirit.

Oh that we would know the breadth of God’s love for us. I love how this song captures this.

The thief crucified on Jesus' side could have thought of every excuse not to come to Jesus—too little, too late, too shameful, too much pain. But he humbled himself and simply came, and was taken in for eternity.

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 1:24-25 ESV)

"The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." (Rev 22:17 ESV)

Today's printable Bible verse coloring page is from some of these final words of Jesus on the cross in Luke 23:42-43. You can download your page HERE in English or HERE in Spanish or by clicking on the images below.*

PRAYING the Word

Jesus, you are "the water of life without price." Ruin us for anything but your yourself. May we have "strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [we] may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18-19 ESV). Thank you, thank you, that you are always knocking on our wayward and stubborn hearts, always saying come. Glorious Jesus, we love you.

QUESTIONS to consider:

1. What lies keep you from coming to Jesus?

2. What truth does the pattern of Scripture have to say to you?

Other printables you could use for Lent/Good Friday/Easter:
THE MANDATUM NOVUM + LOVE ONE ANOTHER COLORING PAGE (for Maundy Thursday)
EASTER SCRIPTURE PRINTABLE COLORING ACTIVITY PAGE (Isaiah 53:6)

SCRIPTURE COLORING PAGE PRINTABLES: AS IN ADAM & FOR BY GRACE

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

March 29, 2017

Broken for you 1 Corinthians 11:24 phone screensaver in Spanish and English

Lent & Easter Resources for your family

Pain, Good news, and an Easter Bible Verse Coloring Page in English + Spanish

It is finished + John 19:30 Easter Bible Verse Coloring Page (English + Spanish)

Forsaken for me + Matthew 27:46 and Isaiah 53:3-4 coloring page

Come + Luke 23:42-43 Bible coloring page (English + Spanish)