Celebrating Easter as honoring Christ risen from the dead is becoming all about the Easter Bunny (and candy – the 2nd biggest day for candy sales of the year per History.com). Celebrating Christmas has become a “holiday” with Santa Claus (and presents – CNBC references it as the #1 biggest spending time). So, as the world chips away at our two very holy days (the birth of Christ and His Resurrection from the dead), we now have a chance to chip away at a worldly day (celebrating Star Wars) and actually let the “saying” be correct! Read on for the info… but here is my example made with IMAGE#1 (below) using You Version on my smart phone:

I created this web page to help you create your own image to post on Facebook etc on May 4.

Include one of the five images below (or make your own – and please share it here for others to use by contacting me) to proclaim May 4 with a saying that references an important story from the Bible:

“May the Fourth be with you”
(Daniel 3:16-28)

Scripture Summary (full Scripture below): THREE men were thrown into the fiery furnace… but a FOURTH was seen in there with them! Thus the phrase “May the Fourth be with you” is like praying that God/Jesus would be with you!

NOTE: Example images with overlaid text, ready to post will be available soon

So, while others frantically post a popular phrase: “May the Force be with you” for May 4, instead of “reposting” from other people, why not create your own post (put it up on May 3 as a prior day reminder) that celebrates Jesus being WITH US (ie, God Is In Our Midst as the name of this website reminds us). Add your short text above or below the image or overlaid on it.

IMAGE #1

I signed an image licensing agreement with Melani Pyke. She generously is allowing the use of her artwork as a resource for making your own May The Fourth Be With You post celebrating May 4!

Here are the restrictions for its use:

1. Limited for use via this website project (for May the Fourth postings)
2. No printed copies allowed
3. Credit to the artist must be displayed in posts (example: © Melani Pyke http://www.melpyke.com) – I added this credit to the image for you
4. The artist is the sole and exclusive owner of all right, title, and interest, throughout the world, to the painting and any copy of the painting.
5. Other than this agreement, the artist reserves all rights and licenses.
6. The fee is: free of charge (thank you Melani)

FOUR MORE images to choose from are below the displayed Scripture!

Scripture Reference

For reference, here is the portion of Scriptures that I am referring to (and you can refer to when posting something for May 4) where our one true God not only saves the three men, but is SEEN in the furnace with them:

²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”

They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

²⁵ “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. ²⁷ And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!” (Daniel 3:23-28 NKJV)

IMAGE #2

Restrictions: May post to another website or on a computer network for your own personal, noncommercial use. Also may be reproduced by media personnel for use in traditional public news forums. Not required but it would be proper to include attribution to the artist (as seen in the caption below the image).

Definition of “noncommercial”: not having a commercial objective; not intended to make a profit. (Oxford Dictionary)

Three other resolutions (sizes) available from the source (which you can reference if you wish).

IMAGE #3

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego – A dangerous trial of faith [in the fiery furnace]

Two More images (#3 and #4) from the same main source as the prior image (same restrictions etc) but from this page

IMAGE #4

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego – A dangerous trial of faith [stepping out of the fiery furnace]

IMAGE #5

=> Online Image

How to attribute this artwork (give credit):

1. This picture is the copyright of Moody Publishers and distributed for free download under a license with FreeBibleimages for personal and educational use only. All rights reserved.
2. Individual Images can be used in educational presentations, web articles, blogs and social media with attribution to Moody Publishers / FreeBibleimages.org.
3. These images cannot be sold under any circumstances or used in any format for commercial gain.
4. You cannot redistribute this set of images online but you can create a link to the relevant page on FreeBibleimages.org to allow others to download these images under the same Terms of Download.
5. Downloaded pictures can be used in the retelling of Bible stories and narrative that are faithful to the Biblical account. They are not to be used in any context where the accompanying message is undermining of the Christian faith and gospel.

Possible IMAGE #6

I am checking to see if we can get permission to use this art from Michael Solomon of CanonQuest (no reply as of yet):

Fiery Furnace image => https://www.artpal.com/canonquest?i=174726-10

About=> https://canonquest.com/about-us

YouTube video=> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVKRvamgHuQ&ab_channel=CanonQuest

SPECIAL NOTE

With that in mind, I’d like to provide images or photos/copies of paintings that would have a significant impact that are either in the public domain or by a contemporary artist who has provided a release to use their art (which we then could attribute and credit to them). If we are going to use someone else’s art, we should give them credit for it!

If you are an artist and would like to make a painting / image to share with others, I can add it to this page! Just => Contact Me.

Or if you find an image/photo of a painting online that credits the artist, also please => Contact Me.

Or (finally), if you create a poster, image or post with overlaid text regarding May the Fourth, please contact me and we can share it here for others to use as well.

EXAMPLES:

Use You Version to create your custom image

1. First, download (onto your phone) one of the appropriate images to customize.
2. Second, start You Version, choose NKJV as your Bible Translation and view Daniel 3:25
3. Tap (hold) on the verse … it should be dotted underlined and options should appear at the bottom of the screen.
4. Tap on IMAGE icon in the bottom menu bar
5. Tap on the first “empty” box which lets you download your own image (instead of using one of their images)
6. Your latest photos/imiages are displayed in a grid. The one you downloaded in step one should be right there at the top!
7. Tap on the photo you want to use (with the fiery furnace)
8. Tap on 3:4 as the “size” you want to use (you can you 1:1 if you wish)
9. A grid appears … slide it and expand it to include the portion of the fiery furnace image you wish to use
10. Tap the SAVE button
11. NOW THE FUN PART … It placed the text of the Scripture on top of the image you chose, however, note that some of the text may be “off the bottom” of the image, so you need to move that text up with your finger.
12. Choose the font that you wish to use from the list at the bottom of the screen (I chose Playfair). Just tap the name of the font you want to try out and the verse will instantly be displayed in that font.
13. YOU CAN EDIT THE TEXT!!! Tap anywhere on the text of the verse. An edit screen should appear. Now … IMPORTANT … tap at the very start of the verse and TYPE the TITLE for this … examples:
    May The Fourth Be With You
    or
    May the 4th be with you
14. You may wish to delete the verse number [25] next … then some translations (such as NKJV) include sub headings with the Scripture … you should delete that. For NKJV you delete “Nebuchadnezzar Praises God”
15. When you have edited the text just the way you want it, tap the X in the top corner close the editing window.
16. Your edited text is now overlaid on the image. You can pinch to zoom the text in or out as well as slide the text around the image. When it is the way you want it just tap SAVE in the top corner.
17. Next … click either DOWNLOAD IMAGE or SHARE buttons at the bottom. For example, if you click SHARE… you then chose WHERE you want to share it (GMail, Facebook, Tumblr, etc)
18. Finally… click DONE at the top corner.

Here are two more examples that I created in You Version:

I slid the text over to the left a bit … and in the image below you can see how I made the text larger with a bolder font.

The example at the top of this article I like because I put lots of blank lines after the TITLE so that I could put the title up at the top!