Merry Christmas

Eli1 · Dec 19, 2023

Exactly! I also keep saying that approach is everything and the greatest champion is Paul in Greece. When he went there, he studied the Greeks and on how many gods they were worshiping and he also saw a statue dedicated to an unknown god. So he then tailored the response for that specific audience.
He praised them for their beliefs and then, proceeded to tell them more about this "unknown God'.
He didn't go there with a chainsaw and a flamethrower basically.

LightOfMyLife · Dec 19, 2023

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. The best gift of all is Jesus his Spirit living in my heart. No greater love than what he did for all sinners laid down his life. The good news is he is in heaven waiting for his children to be with him in their heavenly home.

Magenta · Dec 19, 2023

LightOfMyLife said:

Amen! May Jesus find "room at the inn" in many this Christmas season!

Cameron143 · Dec 19, 2023

Magenta said:

The Make Room Inn in Heartsville?

Edify · Dec 19, 2023

Aaron56 said:

Don't ever tell them you want a second opinion, 'cause then they'll say "OK, you're ugly, too.That will be a extra $100."

SilverFox7 · Dec 23, 2023

Magenta said:

Mary is in the spotlight for me during the Christmas season as well. When the angel, Gabriel, was sent to Mary to give her the news that she was going to give birth to the "Son of God" (Luke 1: 35), her initial response to Gabriel's appearance was fear (v. 28-30).

She had to be in even more shock initially when Gabriel told her,

New King James Version

"...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.... For with God nothing will be impossible” (v. 35, 37).

Amen--nothing is impossible with our God! And, Mary's response to this mind-blowing revelation is remarkable,

“...Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word...” (v. 38).

What an example of faith and humility! This encounter had to be shocking and overwhelming to Mary, who was likely just a young teenage girl at the time, yet her final response to Gabriel was that she was a servant of God who fully desired to do His will.

Mary's example inspires me to be more open to God's desire for my service to fulfill His will for my life. Nothing is impossible with Him, so I need to be faithful and humble like Mary to be a servant to our humble and faithful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the primary focus of Christmas!

Magenta · Dec 23, 2023

SilverFox7 said:

Mary is in the spotlight for me during the Christmas season as well. When the angel, Gabriel, was sent to Mary to give her the news that she was going to give birth to the "Son of God" (Luke 1: 35), her initial response to Gabriel's appearance was fear (v. 28-30).

She had to be in even more shock initially when Gabriel told her,

New King James Version

"...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.... For with God nothing will be impossible” (v. 35, 37).

Amen--nothing is impossible with our God! And, Mary's response to this mind-blowing revelation is remarkable,

“...Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word...” (v. 38).

What an example of faith and humility! This encounter had to be shocking and overwhelming to Mary, who was likely just a young teenage girl at the time, yet her final response to Gabriel was that she was a servant of God who fully desired to do His will.

Mary's example inspires me to be more open to God's desire for my service to fulfill His will for my life. Nothing is impossible with Him, so I need to be faithful and humble like Mary to be a servant to our humble and faithful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the primary focus of Christmas!

Sweet .

. Thank you for sharing!

Magenta · Dec 23, 2023

@SilverFox7 after I posted that panel to you, I opened my working copy to make more edits to it,
even though I initially created it almost two years ago; I never did like her hair (LOL). Back then
I did not have as many faces or facial features and other what I call "human elements" with which
to design. I did not plan it this way, but I seem to have taken a break from designing new panels,
but I do continue to tinker with older ones occasionally. Thank you for the inspiration! Some do
not get posted anywhere near as often as others. It was a good reminder to see it again...

I also realized last night, in pondering this unplanned break I have been taking, that it has been
close to six years since I have been doing this. So it occurred to me that I am on a Sabbatical .

SilverFox7 · Dec 23, 2023

Magenta said:

@SilverFox7 after I posted that panel to you, I opened my working copy to make more edits to it,
even though I initially created it almost two years ago; I never did like her hair (LOL). Back then
I did not have as many faces or facial features and other what I call "human elements" with which
to design. I did not plan it this way, but I seem to have taken a break from designing new panels,
but I do continue to tinker with older ones occasionally. Thank you for the inspiration! Some do
not get posted anywhere near as often as others. It was a good reminder to see it again...

I also realized last night, in pondering this unplanned break I have been taking, that it has been
close to six years since I have been doing this. So it occurred to me that I am on a Sabbatical .

Please post your edited panel. I love your artwork!

p_rehbein · Dec 23, 2023

Cameron said:

I've never uttered 'Happy Christmas'

It's ok, almost everyone in the world says MERRY Christmas.............HAPPY precedes New Year........

p_rehbein · Dec 23, 2023

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE THE BRITH OF CHRIST
!

Cameron143 · Dec 23, 2023

p_rehbein said:

Don't worry, be Happy Christmas.

rrcn · Dec 23, 2023

I've looked for this for a few days now. If there are problems with the links, I tried.

Magenta · Dec 23, 2023

SilverFox7 said:

Thank you! However, it is not done yet LOL. I can show you the direction it is going, though...

and it did take some time to set it up to show you, so I apologize for the delay...

SilverFox7 · Dec 23, 2023

Magenta said:

Can't wait to see future revisions! Beautiful.

Magenta · Dec 23, 2023

SilverFox7 said:

@SilverFox7

Thank you so much for the inspiration and encouragement .

Thunderrr-mental · Dec 23, 2023

Merry Christmas to all ho ho ho 😋

Festive greeting and good will to all ho ho ho ☕☕☕🥳🤩🤩🥳🥳😊

Thunderrr-mental · Dec 23, 2023

Merry Christmas to father Christmas 😋

Magenta · Dec 24, 2023

@SilverFox7 I made this to show some of the process.
I know some of the colours look crazy vibrant and intense but they get that way after other things are
overlaid on top of them and I make edits to bring them out more, since, as you can see, some of the
things I added are eventually barely even visible. I used to spend so much time on a background and
then it would get all covered up by the text mostly, haha, and that is the reason for these in the first place!

I should do one like this showing the progression of a panel as I add things...
I would have to have that intent at the outset because there is no way at any time later I am going to
remember what order I added things, though I do always start with the border and frames (if any) and
work inward. The "if any" refers to premade frames. I have made my own out of bits and pieces but it
was very time consuming. I always have a simple border on any piece. They feel incomplete without.
And I just realized I did not show the final with the arms I settled on. Oh well. It's complicated LOL

Magenta · Dec 24, 2023

I used that same background that is the base for that Luke panel
in this Romans 3 panel which I have never posted before!

And I know I have used that woman's face before. She may be ai generated.
I see a lot of those now when I am looking for new stuff to work with.
I don't mind some of it especially because I make fairly major changes to
the faces. I like them because I can find large files and use just the hair or
the eyes or the nose or the mouth or even just the shoulders. Haha.

Here is the panel I made using that same woman's face:

Psalm 121:7-8

.began design 2023-09-11, first posted 2023-09-13. The shoulders belong to Kristen Stewart.
I have used them elsewhere also!

I keep records of all my urls. I have a few other panels that have never been shown.
Some are not quite finished, plus I started working on a Psalms' series. I had the idea
to design at least one panel per Psalm. I had done quite a few before that, though
I was going to make all these new Psalm's panels vertical, using smart phone type
backgrounds. I found some that are quite stunning. I am not sure if it is a bonus or
a problem that the vertical format does not seem to allow for as much creativity.

Psalm 11:5-7

designed and posted 2023-11-17

Not done much since then... though I am still collecting, mostly BGs for the Psalm's panels. Like this:

Merry Christmas

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