Hi there! Most of the questions we get every day are about what kinds of products to use on these thin pages but I think it’s important to remain focused on why we are here in the first place. We all love to journal, we love God, and we love reflecting on the word. I wanted to share with you seven verses that I find myself going back to over and over again. This may be a great launching off point for someone new to using a journaling bible, or you may want to take it verse by verse focusing on each one for a period of time. The important thing here is you are digging into the word!
I thought about including my pages from these verses but I didn’t want it to take away from what God is trying to teach YOU through these verses. If you are wanting to see my pages I share all of them on my instagram account so make sure you are following me over there!
Psalms 147: 1-20 | I love verses that have a very clear illustrating direction. Not that you always have to follow it, but it just lends itself well to that! In this verse it talks about “counting the stars and knowing them by name” which just screams BIG dreamy STARS to me! Make them SHINE!
Ecclesiastes 3: 9- 14 | I love this book and the visual impact it has when I read over it. After you read it just close your eyes and soak it in. You may come to a very different spot than I did, but I took away from it this beautiful blooming image.
Matthew 5: 16 | In my bible (ESV) this chapter is titled “salt and light” which to be just brings up so many ideas about what we are reading here. I just jumped all over the “light” portion of this title and have a BRIGHT and beautiful illustration reflecting on what God is laying on my heart in this chapter of my life.
John 8: 31-38 | “the truth shall set you free” anything with the word free in it when it relates to the bible just brings to mind birds soaring freely! If you know me at all you know I LOVE to use birds in my bible, something about that freedom just takes me right to that peace that God provides us.
Romans 5: 3-4 | “God’s love proud into our hearts” – oh how I love this and the idea of LOVE being poured into our hearts. Whitney English really brought this verse to life for me in her talk on “finding foundation in our faults”. Whenever you are in your walk, God has a special message for you in this verse, it’s important to listen to that.
1 Corinthians 12: 7-11 | One of the foundations of my testimony and discovering my path with Ilustrated Faith is using the GIFTS that GOD has given you to glorify HIM! This verse will bring that home all day long!
Galatians 6: 1- 10 | I work a lot in the book of Galatians, something about it just speaks to my soul. I love this verse and to me it speaks to planting the seed. When I think of the word seed so many illustratiing/journaling ideas come to mind. You can simply stick with the baby seed or take your illustrations all they way to full bloom!
I hope these verses will spark something in you today, even if only ONE verse speaks to you let it just be a starting point for the wildfire God is igniting in your heart.
x0 – Shanna
Thanks so much, Shanna. I think a lot of us have trouble with this, especially when just starting (as I am).
Thank you for providing this list, Shanna. Getting started was very intimidating, especially since I absolutely cannot draw and while my handwriting is neat, I have not mastered “creative lettering”. I finally jumped in, made a mistake, covered it up with washi tape and moved on. I’m proud of that first entry and it gave me the confidence to move forward as the Lord leads me. I am armed with lots of supplies from my card making and have a new love for alphabet stickers. :-)
I was exactly the same, my first entry was very timid… but it’s there. And then it meant I had more confidence for the second much bolder entry (which in an artistic sense was a complete disaster!) but I’m ok with that. Now I just don’t hold back any more. It’s an experiment every time, but I love that excitement. And it’s teaching me more verses and allows me to spend more time in the Word than I have in a long time. I love this journey.
Shanna, I just want you to know that your work truly inspires me. It started at SC, and now here. I just started going back to church, just received my new ESV bible, so I have a clean slate to start with. I’m in the middle of a Beth Moore bible study on 1&2 Thessalonians, and I haven’t started illustrating anything yet because I was waiting on my new bible to arrive! I’m hoping to be able to sit down this weekend and dive in with some. But I’m so grateful that you’ve given me these verses as well. As a beginner and “novice” in my faith (even though I’ve been a believer my whole life) – I’m just not that knowledgeable. So the guidance is great. Thank you. Thank you so much for giving me this new fire for desire for the Lord!
I have been truly inspired by your work, as well as your faith. I am new to faith and this journey has taken me to places I never dreamed possible! God works in great ways. Thank you for the scriptures and your guiding instructions
Thank you so much for sharing Kelly! I am so glad you are LOVING diving into your bible! <3
Awesome! Thanks your sharing!
I’ve been journaling for a long time, (I’m only 12) and I absolutely love it. Every morning I get strait out of bed and do it!!! Thanks for the verses!
I’m 11 and i started it too. My mom and i are doing it together. These verses will be fun to do.
I always used to under
Line and write notes in bible but this is something new I just started doing when I found you all. Thanks for sharing the article
FB Michelle rueter Martelli
This is a great post for newbies like myself! I am just entering this world of Bible Journaling, even though I’ve basically be doing it most of my life – now I’m doing it on purpose and without fear of messing up my Bible! I love these ideas as I don’t consider myself very crafty or creative. But these are some good starting points and ideas.
Thanks so much for sharing I’m new to this and never bible journaled before a friend from a Pocket Letter pals group share about this group and I’m so excited to be going through this journey with you all. i wish i could go to the classes i live in New York and don’t know if they even have bible journaling classes close to me.. I’m going to look into that i finally found a journaling bible i receive it tomorrow.. Thanks again happy holidays and god bless…
Thank you so much for this post. This is exactly what I needed right now as I get started. I will
journal these verses and see where I go from there with God’s guidance.