Scripture Series: John 3:16 Winter Bird Card---Join Us for Anything Goes/Inspirational Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

Hello there, everyone!  I am posting a day late as I had internet connection problems yesterday that took a while to resolve.  But praise be to God as the enemy is unable to hinder this inspiration project from being published.  As always, we have a brand new Scripture Word Art (you can download for free) at the Word Art Wednesday (WAW) site.  Our bi-weekly Challenge started yesterday with our usual theme, "Anything Goes that is Family Friendly/Inspirational."

Our featured Scripture for our Challenge comes from a very familiar passage in the Bible from John 3:16 and it declares, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  There's important factors we need to understand in order to fully grasp the Truth and Hope that this passage conveys.  First, we must ask why is there a need for God (our Creator) to send His One and Only Son to die at the Cross to redeem us?  To answer this, we must look into what happened to mankind in the beginning (Genesis).  Genesis 1 and 2 revealed God's creation process and how Man came into being.  He's created in God's image and likeness and we became alive (a living soul) when God breathe unto us the "breath of life" ( a portion of Himself).  Man lived in constant fellowship with God and was given by God authority over all His other creation.  But tragedy happened in Genesis 3.  Man betrayed God through disobedience, gave up the dominion (authority) the Lord gave him by handing it over to Satan and plunged the entire human race to Death (spiritual, physical and eternal deaths) ruled by Satan and his Sin Nature. Though Man didn't die physically that day, he did die spiritually and his intimate relationship with his Father was totally severed.  Since then, there's nothing human beings can do to regain that original status of righteousness (declared right) before the presence of God unless the Father intervenes.  As every man is tainted by original Sin, not one human being is qualified to redeem us all from the horrors of our ultimate and eternal separation from God.  We were utterly hopeless until JESUS came!

Now, that we established Man's dilemma after the Fall of mankind, we can now examine the second important factor of John 3:16 that is---the LOVE of GOD!  It is not the will of God to abandon us into hopelessness.  He is committed to fulfilling His purpose for man to rule earth the same way He rules heaven.  Though the enemy tried to delay that, God's Word and His purpose can never be thwarted.  It is through His Son, Jesus Christ, that He would accomplish this.  Jesus, Who is God, willingly clothe Himself in human flesh and became  a man (but without Sin) to redeem humanity from eternal doom.  God's love for us allowed the death of His One and Only Son to bring us all back to Himself.  The sacrifice Jesus did at the Cross destroyed every claim of the enemy over mankind. Through His death, burial and resurrection, we now have a means to fellowship with our Father like Adam did in the beginning.  This bring us to the third factor contained in John 3:16 as revealed by the phrase "Whosoever believed!" Though Jesus died for all of mankind, only those that believe in what He has done at the Cross shall receive His free gift of salvation.  To truly believe is to place you faith, trust, adhere, rely, depend your life on something you know is True though you don't  see it with your physical eyes.  Jesus revealed this kind of faith to Thomas (one of his disciples) who was doubtful of his resurrection in John 20:29, "Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Today, there are many religions and doctrines seeking to further deceive man so that they may never inherit ETERNAL LIFE which can only benefit those who put their complete trust in what Jesus did at the Cross.  Anything that deviate from the Only Way the Father has provided, no matter how religious or good it may be, is undermining what Christ has done for mankind's redemption.  People who embrace such teachings/doctrines are following the ways of man and have allowed themselves to be robbed of the Truth.  Here in America, people will have no excuse!  The Word of God (the Bible) is readily available to anyone who is willing to know the Truth and there are many teachers who teaches the full counsel of God and are willing to lead others to God's perfect will.  Yet many are too busy with mediocre things than what is truly important.  Our life on earth is too short compared to the eternal life that follows right after.  My plea to  each and everyone of you (family, friends and even strangers) that reads this post---please don't take what you read here for granted.  If you don't have an intimate/personal relationship with Jesus Christ nor have a clear understanding of what He has done for you at the Cross, take the necessary step!  Ask Him to reveal Himself to you and be prepared to take the time to study His Word and investigate His claim.  Each of us is very important to Him and He does not want any of us to share the eternal punishment designed for Satan and his followers.  RELIGION DOES NOT SAVE PEOPLE,  JESUS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN! Do it before time runs out.  I did the very same thing 26 years ago and I have absolute confidence on spending eternal life in the arms of Christ based on what He did on my behalf.   If you have questions, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment and I will do my best to accommodate you.  

For this Card, I used an image from Bugaboo Stamps called "Winter Bird Trio" that I colored using my Touch Five markers.  The base is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card.  Finally, I'm able to use my Frantage embossing enamels and glitters to create a winter background. I also die-cut the lacy oval  with Nestabilities, some inking around the Oval frame using Distress Ink (Pumice Stone), flowers from Brides and the nail head gems from Imaginisce.  I added some stitching to complete this design.  I love it!

 JOHN 3:16 WINTER BIRD CARD

 JOHN 3:16 WINTER BIRD CARD LAYERS

 JOHN 3:16 WINTER BIRD CARD INSIDE

JOHN 3:16 WINTER BIRD CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Animal Friends---ATG
Create with TLC---ATG
Card Mania---ATG
Ching-Chou Kuik---Bright and Beautiful
Christmas Cards---Christmas/Holiday
Classic DT---ATG
Connie Can Crop---Baby, It's Cold Outside
Country View---Christmas
Crafts Galore Encore---ATG
Crafty Awesomeness---ATG (with Bugaboo Stamp)
Crafty Enjoyments---Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas---ATG
Creatalicious---ATG with Optional Traditional Christmas Colors
Daisy Chain---Happy Christmas
Die-Cut Divas---Layers/Layer It
Doodle Pantry---Anything Digital Goes
Paper Creator---Christmas
Pearly Sparkles---Merry Christmas
Petal Lu---ATG
Scrap N---Glitter
Scribbles Design---Happy Holidays
12 Months of Christmas---Christmas
YSBP---Sparkles


Time to go, everyone!  Please make sure to visit us at WAW and link up the projects you make out of our free Word Art although not mandatory.  You can link up any inspiring, uplifting, family-friendly projects, up to 5.  Our wonderful sponsors this week Crop Stop (prize package) and All Dressed Up Stamps (2 digi image). So, head over to WAW and show us your wonderful projects.  Enjoy your week.  Always remember that God loves you and has a great plan for your life!