Happy Sunday, everyone! It's quite rainy in here the past few weeks and I have never seen as much rain here in years than what I have seen this month. I remember we were constantly praying for rain and it sure came as a blessing as God allowed it to pour continuously the past few days. I've seen the many people that were battling with severe cold and snow all over the nation and I can only imagine what they were going through. I sure love to get into some snow (I've only seen it one time when we were in Las Vegas years ago and we all had fun making snowballs and throwing them at each other). Today, I can surely appreciate the fact that I didn't have to go through the hassles of driving into and shoveling snow when it gets out of hand.
Anyway, these past few weeks had been stressful for me not only because of the amount of work and projects I had to do but because of the growing lawlessness, deception and immorality in our nation. You turn on the TV and our Constitution and our freedoms are under attack 24/7. There are evil men and women outside of our country who because of their twisted and blind obedience to their religion wants to harm and kill people who are not bowing down to their gods. But what is more disgusting than that are the people from within who were not grateful for the freedoms they have as American citizens but have betrayed their own country and people for a religion that would enslave them. Sad to say but many who would not recognize the One True God have become foolish in their thoughts and so dumb to tell between right and wrong. This is precisely what happens when people leave the wisdom of Almighty God and follow their own evil thoughts and desires. Though they know the Truth, they twist every single one of them in order to justify their immoral and evil acts. The elected leader of this country and all his co-horts had long been deceiving people and driving this country to the pits of hell. They have no regards to the Constitution of this country and deliberately refused to listen to the voice of its citizen. Ungodly laws are being created---promoted by morally bankrupt media and is forced down the throats of every God-fearing citizen of this nation. They promoted death to the unborn, rewarding the illegals, supporting sodomy in every shape and form, funding and nursing terrorists outside and within just to name few. All of these reminds me of God's Word in Book of Romans. God knows what evil leaders and people are capable of starting with the moral degradation of our nation. He who have ears, listen to what the Spirit of God says:
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his
eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor
gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish
hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women
and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts
with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their
perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed
and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
They are gossips,
slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:18-32)
GOD DOES NOT CHANGE! What He said was an abomination before is still an abomination today. We must learn to differentiate between loving and consenting. True love exposes the Truth to save one's life from Eternal Hell. While they may not believe there is such a place, it does not mean it does not exist! Aside from the eternal flames, what do we really know about Hell? Hell is a place where every good thing does not exist. To be there is to be eternally separated from God---the Source of all good things. We must realize that life here is temporary but our "real" (true) life is never ending. What people do on earth has eternal ramifications to their eternal destination. Our Heavenly Father revealed to us through His Word the future of every person that didn't accept the sacrifice (accomplished on our behalf) by Jesus Christ. No man will escape Hell---no matter how good or bad they live this life unless, they come to the "saving knowledge" of Christ---NOBODY! JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY! It is not anyone's religion, beliefs, set of rules to live by, money, fame, power or people they know. It does not matter how many times you bow down to your statues and idols of every form (and I mean all forms---human, animals, nature). I watch people offer flowers, prayers, money---kneeling before their man-made idols and my heart bleeds for them. They have been so blinded by their religion and culture so as not to see that what they are doing does not have eternal value---instead it hurts the heart of God and insults His Glory! Let me be very clear---God didn't mandate any human being (including the virgin Mary or any of the apostles) to replace the role of Jesus as Mediator between God and mankind! God didn't establish bureaucracy in His kingdom. No other man died on the Cross and whose sacrifice pleased the sight of God except that of Christ. He alone can do that work and going through different channels is certainly an ignorance of God's Word. Jesus is the answer to man's every need---past, present, future, forever. The Scripture says in 1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus." So, what are we to do in these evil days?
Here it is---We ought to study the Word of God so as not to be taken by any false teachings/information. We are to pray at all times (whenever and wherever) for God to touch the heart of many all over the world. Third and most importantly---ACT on our faith! We are to be the "Salt (preserver) and Light (cast out darkness and exposing deception)" of this world. This is not a job for the cowards. God is counting on men and women whose trust is solely established in His Son, whose empowered by His Holy Spirit to speak Truth in every darkened places. Those who are not afraid of any threats knowing his/her eternal destination and inheritance in God's Kingdom. By writing this Blog, I am exposing the Truth without apologies. For those that are washed by the blood of Christ, this is the time to say "NO" to ungodly laws---loud and clear! Those who are cowards will do what they've done all along---HIDE IN FEAR! I know it's a tough post but I refuse to drink the Kool-aid being forced in my throat! It's better to die fighting than to die balling in fear. God is with me and I have nothing to be afraid of!
Back on the lighter side of things, we have another Anything Goes Challenge with an optional Theme (Subway Art) at 613 Avenue Create. I used an image called "Zilpha's Love Note" for my card which was graciously provided by one of our sponsors this week, Beansie Doodles. I colored it with my ProMarker/Prismacolor markers and did the same with the stamped flower from Ditto stamps. I added some glitters (Stickles-Crystal), a brad (Recollections) and some die-cut leaves punch from Martha Stewart. The card is measured at 5 x 6.5 inches using a white CS. The "subway art style" sentiment is a freebie from Create with TLC (Thanks a lot, Paulette!) and is perfect for the optional theme (Subway Art) of our Challenge. The base panel was embossed with one of my newly purchased embossing folder from Darice. I'm surprised I didn't have to insist on using a DP just to make this project work but I did try to find some but didn't find one that I like at least on the few stacks I went through before I ran out of energy to keep looking...LOL.
ALL KINDS OF HELLO CARD:
ALL KINDS OF HELLO CARD LAYERS:
ALL KINDS OF HELLO CARD INSIDE:
ALL KINDS OF HELLO CARD WITH ENVELOPE:
This Card is entered into the following Challenges:
Crafter's Cafe---ATG
Penny's Paper Crafty---ATG
Art by Miran---ATG
Creative Moments---ATG/Make it Sparkle
Dream Valley---ATG
Inspiration Destination---ATG
Allsorts---No Designer Paper
Little Red Wagon---Layer It Up!
Perfectly Rustics---Embossing
Crafting with Dragonflies---ATG/Farewell or Goodbye
Scrapper's Delights---ATG/Traditional Christmas
Addicted to Stamps---Lots of Layers
Crafting When We Can---CAS
Lauralcraft---Let's Be Girly (Use Die Cut or Punch)
Eclectic Ellapu---Purple Team: Leaves and Foliage
Robyn's Fetish---Use a Digi
Scrappy Hands---Textures
Scribble and Scrap---ATG
That Craft Place---ATG
Treasured Times---ATG
Vandicrafts---ATG
Crafty Mess---ATG
A Creative Romance---Something Old (The Flower image stamp is old)
Bloggers---Friendship
Creative Fingers---ATG
Daring Cardmakers---Something Old (flower stamp), Something New (Subway Word Art)
QKR Stampede---Bling It On
Sister Act---ATG
Wags 'n Whiskers---Add Some Leaves
Crafter's Cafe---ATG
Penny's Paper Crafty---ATG
Art by Miran---ATG
Creative Moments---ATG/Make it Sparkle
Dream Valley---ATG
Inspiration Destination---ATG
Allsorts---No Designer Paper
Little Red Wagon---Layer It Up!
Perfectly Rustics---Embossing
Crafting with Dragonflies---ATG/Farewell or Goodbye
Scrapper's Delights---ATG/Traditional Christmas
Addicted to Stamps---Lots of Layers
Crafting When We Can---CAS
Lauralcraft---Let's Be Girly (Use Die Cut or Punch)
Eclectic Ellapu---Purple Team: Leaves and Foliage
Robyn's Fetish---Use a Digi
Scrappy Hands---Textures
Scribble and Scrap---ATG
That Craft Place---ATG
Treasured Times---ATG
Vandicrafts---ATG
Crafty Mess---ATG
A Creative Romance---Something Old (The Flower image stamp is old)
Bloggers---Friendship
Creative Fingers---ATG
Daring Cardmakers---Something Old (flower stamp), Something New (Subway Word Art)
QKR Stampede---Bling It On
Sister Act---ATG
Wags 'n Whiskers---Add Some Leaves
There you have it, folks! Don't miss the opportunity to join our Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create. There's wonderful prizes awaiting the winners from our lovely sponsors for this week---Beansie Doodles Digi Stamps and Lacy Sunshine Stamps .
Can't wait to see what fabulous projects you're going to highlight this
week. I hope you have a wonderful week and know that through faith in
what Jesus accomplished through the Cross, we have complete victory!
I so understand your frustration and hurt at what is happening in your nation - our nation is also under (moral) attack and decline.
ReplyDeleteI love your card Jo Ann, it is beautiful.
Blessings
Maxine
Your card turned out fabulously~!
ReplyDeletePaulette
Lovely card and embossing. Great sentiments. Thanks for joining ou Anything Goes Challenge at Penny's Paper Crafty. Jennifer (DT member)
ReplyDeleteLovely card, fab design, thanks for joining us at Allsorts this week, xxx
ReplyDeleteAs always, Jo Ann, absolutely gorgeous! Love that embossing and what an adorable, fun image! Love how the flower picks up on all the colors! Preach on, GF! I hear you and feel your frustration as well. Thanks for sharing your fabulous project and joining us for our current challenge at Inspiration Destination. Hope to see you again and good luck!
ReplyDeleteEma
IDCB Owner
Hello, A lovely project, love the colour choice. A lovely style. Thank you for joining us this month with our first challenge at A Crafty Mess Good luck. We would love to see you again next month.
ReplyDeleteTeighan
Your card is fun, bright and cheerful. This will definitely make someone smile. Thanks for joining our Layer it Up challenge at Little Red Wagon.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun, fun card! Great vivid colors and love your coloring! Thanks so much for joining us this week at QKR Stampede for the weekly challenge!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful card!
ReplyDeleteThank you soo much for taking part in our "Aything Goes” challenge over at Penny’s.
Hope to see you again in our next challenge as well…
Hugs,
Melanie
(DT Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges)
(DT-Coordinator Creatalicious Challenges)
(DT Come and Get It)
(DT Allways Something Creative)
oh this is just gorgeous,love the colors,bless you for playing at That Craft Place this week,hugs Cherylxx
ReplyDeleteTotally fun and fabby card... love the way you have embossed inside too. :) Thank you for sharing with us at ArtbyMiran Challenge Blog. Jackie DT
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks for joining at ATSC: Lots of Layers
ReplyDeleteHugs
Dewi
Gorgeous card:)
ReplyDeleteWahoo! I am celebrating with you over your win and DT favorite on Inspiration Destination! Well deserved my friend!
ReplyDelete~ginny
RubberMAD
A beautiful card. Thank you for sharing with us at Robyns Fetish Challenge. Marlene DT
ReplyDeleteLove this creation! Glad you could find some "me" time to join in our challenge and share your talent!
ReplyDeleteDebbieM - Scrapper's Delights DT
Love your flower and how you have continued with the embossing on the inside and on the envelope. Thanks for joining us at Perfectly Rustics.
ReplyDeleteCute card ... love how you did the inside. Thank you for sharing on this weeks Artistry Challenge. Melissa - Vandicrafts
ReplyDeletesuch a cute fun card! thank you for joining us at that craft place for the anything goes challenge! Rachel, that craft place dt
ReplyDeleteToo cute!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining us at Dragonfly Dreams and I hope we see you again soon!
Hugz
Laurian
Owner Dragonfly Dreams
Such a fun card Jo Ann.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your wonderful work with us at Crafting When We Can Challenges. :-) xx
Gorgeous, love the embossed background
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining us at Scribble & Scrap
Huggsss, Angelique
EngelDesignsScrap
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