“Pointing to Jesus” Journal Set-up

It’s a new month which means a new devotional from By the Well 4 God.  As always, I am excited to jump in, but this month feels a little different.  We are spending the month looking at the prophecies of the Old Testament and how they all point to Jesus.  That alone sounds like a fantastic story, but I am hoping that we get to dig a little deeper.  Yes, the Bible is a story that points to Jesus, but where does it point us after that?  Jesus points us in a direction as well, so I’ll be diving deep to make some of those connections as well.

When I receive a new Bible journaling devotional, I generally decide what format I am going to use to work through the devotional before I jump in.  Some of the options that I consider are:

• Bible journaling within the pages of my Bible
• Faith journaling in a traveler’s notebook
• Faith-dex cards
• Tag ring
• Mini-album

Any of these are fantastic was to apply your creativity to your Bible study.  In fact, I am sure there are some other fantastic outlets that I have forgotten to list.  When I am deciding which format I will choose, I generally take a look at the study and see what the larger focus.  Is it an in-depth scriptural study or one that calls us into a deeper prayer life?  Are we focusing on historical context and connections, or are we focusing on instructions for how to live our lives?  There are lots of directions a devotional might take, so I consider what I intend to focus on.  That helps me to determine the format.  If I know I will be taking a lot of notes, then I tend to choose a traveler’s notebook approach, which is what I went with for “Pointing to Jesus”.

All the pages in my traveler’s notebook follow a very similar set-up.  I created a tone-on-tone background with Distress Ink blending and stamping/stenciling.  I love the theme of arrows that runs throughout!  Then, on each page, I added the numbered day of the devotional along with a place to keep track of the scripture that had been covered overall.  I also added arrows that pointed toward each other at the top of each page.  This will be where I right the specific connections between the Old and New Testament that are mentioned in each day.  Lastly, I used the Scripture Prescription stamp to create an area for daily prayer.  I love that the formatting is all done, so when I sit down to study, I can focus more on the Word and less on the art.

Do you change up the way you work through Bible journaling devotionals?  What are some of your favorite formats?  I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Keep it creative,

-The Scrappy Wife

Supplies: (Some of these are affiliate links…thanks in advance for supporting my blog!)

• “Pointing to Jesus” Devotional Kit
• “Pointing to Jesus” Traveler’s Notebooks
• Jesus Bingo Cards
• “Foretold” Paper Pack
• “Foretold” Tile Alpha Stickers
• “Foretold” Clear Alpha Stickers
• “Point the Way” Stencil
• Spiritual Prescription Stamp
• Vintage Collage Stamp
• By Your Love Stamp Set
• Brave Stamp Set
• Chromatic Alpha Stamp Set
• Fulfilled Stamp Set
• Necolor II Crayons – (Carmine 080, Olive 249, Malachite Green 180, Salmon 051, Brown 059, Prussian Blue 159, Beige 403)
• Distress Oxide Ink – (evergreen bough, faded jeans, aged mahogany, vintage photo, crushed olive, dried marigold)