Scripture Series: Word is Very Nigh Card---It's an Inspirational/Anything Goes Challenge Happening at Word Art Wednesday!

Hello everyone!  What a great day to bless the Lord and to bring you another Inspirational/Anything Goes Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW).  Our highlighted Scripture Word Art (you can download for free at the WAW site) comes from Deuteronomy 30:14 which says, "But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." God gave us the Scripture so that we'll find out from there His ONLY WAY to righteousness. It is a road map to living a life of freedom that is only accessible through faith in Jesus Christ.  Before our Savior was born, during the time of Moses, men were guided by God's commandments.  People thought that by obeying them, they could earn righteousness in the sight of God.  But they forgot something!  That is, if they desired to be justified by the law, they have to obey every law given.  Doing some and leaving others behind voided everything.  That is why, NO ONE can be justified by obeying the Law.  It is impossible for anyone to fulfill them all.  The sacrifices they made for the atonement of sin were just a temporary fix. They only dealt with the surface but not the root of the problem.   The SIN NATURE (that was deposited by the devil to every human heart after the Fall of Man) didn't meet it's CURE until the FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST AT THE CROSS (His death, burial and resurrection) became a reality.  

I can't begin to tell you how privilege we are to live in this PERIOD OF GRACE.  Think about it, we are living in the same spiritual reality as in the time of Noah. When everyone was being asked to believe and to come to the Ark of Safety to be saved from the time of judgment.  For many years, they have seen the Ark being  built and some of them even helped build it.  The animals were ushered inside in pairs and with all the time it took, none of them believed the coming wrath of God that will wipe out a rebellious mankind from the face of the earth.  Right now, JESUS IS OUR ARK OF SAFETY!  The Scripture clearly tells us in John 3:16-17, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  The moment we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have received Him as the perfect Lamb that took away the sins of the world, once and for all!  He only had to do it once and that act became a believer's ticket to the presence of God forever.  We don't pay for it with material possessions nor with fleshly endeavors (human effort).  None of them will ever please our Creator and pay for our sins.  What it does require is the full surrender of ourselves to Him through faith (trust no matter what).  It means dying to one's self (selfish motives and ambitions) and yielding our lives for His glory.   We need to die from the old nature in Adam (plagued by the Sin Nature and rebellion of God) and be Born-again to a divine nature in Christ.  That is why Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus made a lot of sense when he said in John 3:3, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."  For what does sin nature have in common with the holiness of God?...Absolutely nothing!  We cannot live a holy life without the model of holiness---Jesus Christ, inside our hearts.  When we allow Him in, He begins the work in us!  He helps us get to know Him and develop a love and faith relationship with Him as we go through life's trials and temptations.  He allows us to hear His voice through the revelation of His Word as He speaks in our hearts.  John 1:1 pertains to Jesus when it declared, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  Here's the Truth-- Jesus is the very Word of God that lives inside every human being that accepted His sacrifice at the Cross and began a personal relationship with Him through a Born-again experience.  Yes, He is near us!  He's the Word in our mouths that lives inside our hearts.  We are to allow Him to use us mightily for His own work and purpose.  This lifetime will pass away and our passion and eagerness to obey Him will reap its eternal rewards.  If the Lord of lords and the King of kings gives rewards, how precious and awesome those rewards will be?  Hope this encourages you to fight the good fight of faith daily knowing that when you're trust is in the Lord, you are never alone...Just want to share with you these compelling verses about our hope in Christ:

"Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known."  (John 1:16-18)

"Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:35-40)

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."  (1 John 4:10-12)

For this Card, I used an image I got for free at "Make it Crafty" which I colored with my ProMarker/Prismacolor markers.  The base is white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card.  The DPs all come from Recollections, the white nail head gems from Imaginisce and for some sparkle, I used Stickles glitter (Yellow and Crystal).  The wonderful die-cut that frames the Scripture Word Art is cut with Cuttlebug using a Nestabilities die.  I also added a Recollections fabric tape and stitched all over this creation.  This is quite different from my usual bright colors but just feeling a more subdued color palette for a change.  Hope you like it.

WORD IS VERY NIGH CARD:

 WORD IS VERY NIGH CARD LAYERS:

WORD IS VERY NIGH CARD SIDE VIEW:

 WORD IS VERY NIGH CARD INSIDE:

WORD IS VERY NIGH CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX:

This Card is entered  into the following Challenges:

Crafting by Designs---Sentimentally
Crafty Gals---Color Challenge
Creative Moments---ATG/Teentastic
Fab 'n' Funky---Flora and Fauna
Inspiration Destination---ATG
Little Red Wagon---To Die For
Penny's Paper Crafty---ATG
Crafty Sentiments---ATG
Scrap-Creations---ATG
Party Time Tuesday---ATG
TTCRD---ATG
Love to Scrap---ATG
Mema's Crafts---ATG
Stamp and Create---May Flowers
Crafts Galore Encore---ATG
Create and Inspire---ATG
Craftyhazelnut's---Use Patterned Paper
So, Show Us---How Does Your Garden Grow?
Great Impressions---Celebrate Spring 
Stamping Sensations---Flower Power 

Make sure you join us at WAW Challenge.  You can use the free Word Art in your creation and link it to our Challenge but is not a requirement.  As long as it's family-friendly, uplifting and inspirational, you can enter up to 5 times this week.  Lots of prizes to be won from our two wonderful sponsors---Close to my Heart (Stamp Set) and Moonlighting by Mary (Digi Images).  So excited to see what you come up with.  Anyway, cheer up and let the joy of the Lord overtake you today.  Let us be eager to share to anyone who desires to listen the hope we found in Christ, our Savior.