Scripture Series: Fruit of the Spirit Card---Time for Another Inspirational/Anything Goes Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

A wonderful Wednesday, everyone! I am thankful to the Lord today for providing me such relief from the environmental allergies that gives me discomfort in the ever changing weather out here in Texas.  For about 2 weeks now, I've been breathing well, though with the aid of a couple of allergy medicines (Thank God for medicines too!), I am appreciating everyday I am waking up with no congestion and frequent sneezing.  It is great to find blessings in our lives that for most of the time, we take for granted.  I have so much appreciation for breathing comfortably for I have been in a place for several years now (during allergy months) of not having the luxury to go to a doctor and have proper treatment for environmental factors that affected me.  I had many sleepless nights and tried to sleep sitting down because it was too hard to breathe.  I was dreading the changes in the weather knowing how it can affect me.  Finally, relief came and I have everything to be thankful for.  You see, there are many problems I have to face each day but then, I decided to not concentrate on them!  Instead, I focus on the victories the Lord blessed me with each day.  Over and over, He tells me not to worry about my circumstances yet there were times I would be so stubborn thinking of them.  I am so glad that the Lord is  ever so patient in my unbelief and that He wouldn't give up on me.  I remember a wonderful Pastor told us (in my Bible class) that trials come in different degrees or level.  There are some that does not take much to solve and those that requires more from us.  As I desire to serve the Lord Jesus more, trials never fail to come and they try to hinder me from ever fulfilling the purpose that God prepared for me.  I have seen many people who were so zealous in the ministry that the Lord gave them but in the event of many trials, they started pulling away.  I've learned that when the enemy tries to stop me from fulfilling God's work, the more I have to go against my feelings, condition and situation.  When I don't want to give to the work of God, the more I have to.  When I feel like skipping Church, the more I have to go---even if I drag myself in the process.  The more I feel like giving up, the more I have to fight against my own weakness.  If  it all depends on my own abilities and strengths, I would be long gone from the path the Lord has taken me.  But because He, who is inside of me, is greater than any demonic forces that seeks to pull me down, I can pull myself up and command my soul (consist of mind, will and emotions) to go against the suggestions of the enemy and my human nature (selfish desires) and to submit to the dictates of my spirit whose under God.  A Christian life is never without a battle!  Everyday in every situation, we need to decide! We can choose to follow the ways of the devil which leads to destruction or follow the righteous ways of the Lord which leads to holiness and eternal life.  I ask myself this, "Will I be willing to give up the eternal (without time, forever) life that Jesus won for me for a "momentary" (earthly life, temporary, a wink of an eye) existence here on earth.  And suddenly, I know what I needed to do!  It does help every believer of Jesus Christ to have an "ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE" in life when facing spiritual battles.  It will save us a load of troubles!  We are not to be strangers to the Word of God (the Bible) for in it is the written revelations of our Creator who gave us every instruction and solutions to every question we have in mind.  It contains our past, present and future and if you want to learn to value a life that comes after our final breath here on earth, we ought to spend time meditating on the Word of God!  This would require some spiritual disciplines (Meditation of the Word, Prayer, Fasting, Silence and Study).  Mastery of these five is not the source of our power as a believer.  Our only Source of power is found in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross.  What these disciplines help us achieve is that they place us in a position that would separate us from the world (flesh) and go after the things of God.  We are to integrate these disciplines in our lives until it becomes a lifestyle.   Here's some verses I want to share with you that would help us persevere in our walk with God:

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12)

"Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen." (2 Peter 3:17-18)

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:3-7)

Anyway, we have another Inspirational/Anything Goes Challenge happening at Word Art Wednesday (WAW).  We are highlighting a wonderful Word Art (by Karen Murray) which you can download for free at the WAW site.  It features the Word of God in Galatians 5:22-23 which says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."  These are the characteristics that should be found in men and women that have been transformed by God through a Born-Again experience (John 3:3-7).  The Holy Spirit living inside of us equips us with these qualities (without Him, it's impossible for us to do it) and though it may seem like a challenge for us to develop some or all of the qualities,  He is not finished with us.  Everyday we live is a step in the right direction if we depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us focus on the finished work of Jesus on the Cross,  As we keep our attention to Jesus Christ, the less and less we are to focus on ourselves.  That's how we become Christ-like!  Contrary to what the people of the world thinks---all of us (believers) are a work in progress.  Not one of us has gotten it altogether but when we finally come face to face with God, we'll see the fulness of our transformation in Him.   For my inspiration card today, I used an image from one of our sponsors, Robyn's Fetish.  it's called  "Crock Pot 'n Flowers" which I colored with my ProMarker/Prismacolor markers.  The base card is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5-inches square card.  The DP's and colored CS are all from my scraps.  The lacy circle is cut with Nestabilities and added several metallic gems from Imaginisce.  I cut the Word Art into strips and matted it with a blue/gray CS.  Lastly, I did a load of stitching inside and outside of this card.  Love how it turned out.

 

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT CARD:

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT CARD LAYERS:

 FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT CARD INSIDE:

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX:


*** WANT THIS CARD?  AVAILABLE AT MY ETSY---HERE! ***

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Make it Monday---ATG
Challenges 4 Everybody---ATG
Inky Impressions---Someone Special
Rhedd and Rosie---ATG
Lacy Sunshine---Use a Sentiment
OSAAT---ATG
Robyn's Fetish---Valentine
Gem of a Challenge---All You Need is Love
Scrapbook Stamp Society---ATG + Optional Use a Heart
Artistic Inspirations---ATG/Hearts
Digi Darla's---Your Personal Style (Layered)
Craft Your Passion---Love is in the Air
Digi Makeover---ATG
Ladybug Crafts---The One I Love
Papertake Weekly---ATG/Optional Shaped Card
TTCRD---ATG
Crafting by Designs---ATG
Creative Moments---ATG/Add Some Sparkle
Scrap-Creations---Favorite Embellishment (Little Nail Gems)
Scribble and Scrap---ATG
As You Like It---Favorite Style (I love "Layering" with Clean and Graphic Design)
Crafts Galore---Add a Bling
Craftyhazelnut's---Use Patterned Paper
One Crazy Stamper---ATG
Loves Rubber Stamps---ATG
Cuttlebug Mania---A Touch of Red (Used Cuttlebug and Nestabilities for Lacy Circle)
Fan-Tastic Tuesday---ATG (Must be Square)
Top Tip Tuesday---Girly (Cut up sentiments can have a wonderful effect on a project)
Bunny Zoe's Crafts---Stitching
Great Impressions---Floral Images
Doodle Pantry---Any Digi Goes

Thanks a lot for visiting my site and leaving some comments.  I truly enjoy reading them.  Just want to encourage you to join our Challenge at WAW.  You can make any project you want as long as it's family friendly, inspirational or uplifting.  You can enter up to 5 projects for more chances of winning.  We would like to see your creation using our free Word Art but it's not mandatory.  We just enjoy the creative inspiration that each of you share and would be happy to know you a lot better through your artwork.  There's wonderful prizes to be won from our sponsors this week---Heart and Soul Rubber Stamps and Robyn's Fetish.  Take the time to meditate on the many blessings that God has in store for you today instead of focusing on the negatives.