The Freedom of Forgiving plus Coloring Book News!

Forgiveness can be hard, feeling like trying to break out of a cage of hurt, injustice and despair.

After the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 NRSV, Jesus states,

14 

For if you forgive others their trespasses, 

your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

15 

but if you do not forgive others, 

neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

It sounds rather harsh. After all, God is God and we are not. In some circumstances forgiving seems impossible. 

So, I did a word study on the word

forgive

, and found some interesting insight. It means: "to leave, suffer, let alone, to give up a debt. It also means to send away, like a divorce; to leave in order to go to another place." It is letting go of being bound to someone else's fault, sin, offense, or misdeed. Now these verses make more sense. If I hold onto someone else's offense, I am bound to the offense and placing myself as judge. It keeps me from experiencing God's love and forgiveness, minimizing what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus came so we could be free. Ultimately, forgiving is for giving me freedom. 

As a follower of Jesus it is my response-ability, because I am given the ability to respond like Jesus when he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." 

It is the Spirit of Christ in me that makes it possible. I want to be filled up with Christ to the point where there is not room to be bound to the darkness and burden of someone else's offense. 

The above artwork is colored from my new coloring book coming out soon,

Colorful Blessings

. The designs and text are taken from my art journals and some from my Art Journaling Bible. The images and messages flow out of my personal experience and walk with God. If you've been following my blog for awhile, it is likely you've seen many of the imagery and messages.

In August,

Taunton Press

contacted me about doing a faith-based coloring book,

Colorful Blessings

. I am grateful for the opportunity and excited about the possibilities. The book is now available for pre-order from

Taunton

and

Amazon

  and should be available February 2, 2016. The cover image is just below, another colored page you might recognize from an art journal. I will be posting more about the book soon. Also, I am excited to share tips with you about how to color etc. Stay tuned!

Products Used to Color the Above Pages:

Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Blender Pencil, and Pencil Sharpener. Here are the links shown on my blogsite:

Blog Affiliate Disclosure:

To make the products I talk about in this blog and videos more accessible and to answer product questions, I've affiliated with Amazon.com. I do not get paid for using any of the products and only share products I use often, and am pleased to recommend them. I get a number of questions regarding the products I use. I thought this would be the win/win opportunity for you and I. If you click on any of the Amazon product links above and purchase the product, I receive a small percentage, like a tip. It does not cost you anything.