The Beautiful Word: Revealing the Goodness of Scripture

By Zondervan

100 Illustrated NIV Verses That Reveal the Goodness of Scripture

Through beautifully hand-lettered and illustrated Bible verses, The Beautiful Word will inspire you with the hope found in Scripture.

One hundred Bible passages are taken from the New International Version®, including many treasured favorites, such as Jeremiah 29:11 and Philippians 4:13. With a short, though-provoking reflection alongside each illustrated Scripture, this highly designed gift book makes a lovely companion to the Beautiful Word Bibles.

From Genesis to Revelation, the inspired words of God are beautiful.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: May 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9780310092926

Book preview

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The Beautiful Word

Copyright © 2016 by Zondervan

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

ePub Edition © May 2017: ISBN 978-0-3100-9292-6

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Connie Gabbert Design + Illustration

Interior design: Lori Lynch

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Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

Contents

The Beautiful Word

About the Artists

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In the beginning there was only God, and then He spoke. Just a few words—and nothing became everything. Cold and empty void transformed into brilliant light and life. And the image of God was breathed into man, into woman, into us. All was beautiful, wondrous, and perfect.

And then came sin, sorrow, and separation—but then glorious hope. A Savior, a Seeker of souls, salvation! A bridge of forgiveness and relationship with God was purchased at a price beyond measure and made available to all who would believe. This eternal plan of salvation was designed by God from the very beginning.

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What we deserve—oh, what we deserve!—for our sins and mistakes, for our stubbornness and pride, for our selfish and willful ways. But we are not given what we deserve. Instead, we are given grace: sweet, cleansing grace. We are neither cast away nor consumed because God’s love and compassion never fail. Each morning dawns bright and new, fresh with potential and purpose, for the Lord faithfully washes away the confessed sins of our yesterday.

We deserve—oh, how we deserve—so much less, yet we are given infinite and unfailing grace.

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Plans—divinely promised and personal, beautifully crafted by our Creator—for each one of us. Plans of hope, promise, and a future.

How easily we find ourselves wandering through this world, seeking which path to follow, trying first this one, then that one. What wasted time, wasted strength. And all the while the perfect plan—God’s perfect plan—awaits us. We need only to call out to the Lord in prayer, seek Him with all our heart, and He is there with us. Holding us fast, lighting our way, revealing to us—step by step—His perfect plan.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

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When we come before God with our hearts open, souls searching, and we ask, we plead, we seek, He answers. Always.