Hi there, friends! I would like to share with you my inspiration
project for this bi-weekly Challenge happening at Word Art Wednesday (WAW). As always, we featured a Scripture Word Art that you can download for free at the WAW site. Our highlighted verse comes from Psalm 91:4 which says, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler." I love what my Life Application Bible shared with regards to this verse. It says, "God is a shelter, a refuge when we are afraid. The writer's faith in the Almighty God as Protector would carry Him through all the dangers and fears of life. This should be a picture of our trust---trading all of our fears for faith in Him, no matter how intense our fears. To do this we must "dwell" and "rest" with Him (Psalm 91:1). By entrusting ourselves to His protection and pledging our daily devotion to Him, we will be kept safe."
Now, I get why others stopped trusting in God. It is because their faith in Him is a conditional faith. The truth of the matter is, many are just trusting Him for the positive outcome to their prayers. Yes, as the Body of Christ (Born-again, John 3:3), we stand by the promises of God in His Word especially when it comes to healing, finances and the various aspects of life. We rejoice in seeing our love ones in critical condition overcome physical death when we pray. But this does not happen all the time and many have struggled to make sense of their love ones or their own struggle with death. Though we know for a fact that our lives in this world are temporary, we invest everything in this world and have forsaken the reality that at any day, life may come to an end here. I can't help but be sad
for many who have traded their faith in God with worldly fear. They
are easily manipulated to give up their rights and freedom, condemning
others that wouldn't succumb to fear like them convincing themselves that
their own efforts could add another day to their lives. How much are
they willing to compromise for this temporary existence? And how sad it is for anyone who rejected Christ to leave this world---for the eternal torment waiting for them in the afterlife is utterly horrific. But for a true follower of Jesus Christ to go from here to the next life is an eternity of joy and peace in the presence of our Savior. God did not promise us a world free of danger but He did promise to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). In moments of great trials, it is imperative that we place all of our trust in the Lord Jesus who has total control over our lives. He knows what is best for us at any given time and circumstances. Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." It is that confidence that even when our prayers did not turn out the way we wanted it to be, God has our best interest in mind. That the death of every believer is not a loss but a promotion to the everlasting life that will only happen when God says it is time. Therefore, you can do everything in your power to preserve your life but in reality, God has the final say! One day, the Rapture of the Church will happen. God will resurrect all believers who have died, give them glorified
bodies, and we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air and will receive glorified bodies as well. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). What a glorious day that will be!
Anyway, I would like to share with you something that God placed upon my heart a few days ago from Matthew 14:22-33. Here, Jesus walked on the water and so did Peter. But as Peter saw the wind, he was overwhelmed with fear. He lost focus on Jesus and began to sink. He cried out to the Lord and Jesus pulled him out of the water saying, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” It's easy to say we trust God when the winds/storms of life are quite a distance from us. But the moment it hits close to home and our lives are directly affected and threatened, can we still trust God? Truth be told, our faith should be firmly planted to the strong foundation of Jesus Christ in order to withstand anything---even the very threat to our lives. God gave us His eternal promises in Christ to encourage and inspire us to contend for our faith and to rid us of every fear that will try to stop us in accomplishing God's purpose in our lives. I love this statement from realfaith.com that says, "Fear will sink you. When Peter had faith, he walked on water. When he
had fear, he sank in the water. The same is true for you. Fear will sink
you. Is there any fear that is gripping and controlling your decision
making?" When our focus is solely on our Lord Jesus Christ, we will live fearless lives with the ability to accomplish the impossible withholding nothing! I would like to share what Apostle Paul told us in these passages.
"Above all, you must live as citizens of
heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about
Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I
will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one
purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Don’t
be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them
that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved,
even by God himself. For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it." When we truly know the God we serve and hold on to His promises on earth and beyond, there will be no room for fear." (Philippians 1:27-30)
For this Card, I used an image from Recollections (feathers) and stamped them in different colors using Memento Inks and Hampton Art-Tracey Hey for the rest of the images that I colored using The Creative Expert markers. The base is white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card. I used MS Punch to shape the sides and added some nail head gems from Imaginisce. Lastly, I stitched all over this project.
HE SHALL COVER THEE CARD
HE SHALL COVER THEE CARD LAYERS
HE SHALL COVER THEE CARD INSIDE
HE SHALL COVER THEE CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX
This Card is entered into the following Challenges:
Stinkin' Inkers---Pick Me Up
Time Out---Brave
CAS on Friday---CAS with Balloons
Crafty Creations---ATG
Creative Moments---ATG
Ellibelle's Corner---Flora and/or Fauna
House that Stamps Built---Sparkle and Shine
Simon Wednesday---Sparkle and Shine
Sisterhood of Crafters---Cute and Simple
Paper Funday---ATG/Autumn/Fall
2 Crafty Critter---ATG with Critter
A Bit More Time---ATG
A Perfect Time---ATG
Classic Design---ATG
Clever Dexter---Sparkle and Glitter
Crafts Galore Encore---ATG
Crafty Animals---ATG with Animals
Creatalicious---ATG
CCC Digi Creations---No Patterned Paper
Let's Craft and Create---ATG/Lots of Layers
Love to Craft---ATG
Love to Scrap---ATG
Mix It Up---ATG/Monochrome
Morgan's Artworld---ATG
QKR---ATG
Rabisco---ATG
Crafting Challenge---ATG
YSP---ATG
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 each week. Our Challenge winner will be awarded a wonderful prizes from our awesome
sponsor---Stix 2 Anything (Adhesive package).
So excited to see what you come up with. Anyway, live every minute of
your life fully trusting in the Lord, both physically and spiritually.
Never ever trade joy that will last for all eternity for momentary
pleasure.
Ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Find out how on the sidebar...
So true JoAnn - it is so very sad to see folks giving up on their faith when under stress or through trials that don't have the desired outcomes.
ReplyDeleteLove your cheerful card
Stay safe
Blessings
Maxine
Lovely card, Jo Ann. Thank you for the devotion as well. :)
ReplyDeleteWe all experience fear as Peter did, but the lesson learned is to keep our eyes on Christ!
Beautifully stamped card. Thanks for joining us at Let's Craft and Create this month, happy crafting, Michelle x
ReplyDeleteVery inspirational! That dog in its little boots is so cute! Thanks for sharing with us at the Paper Funday Challenge.
ReplyDeleteLove card and sentiment. Nice work. Thank you for sharing in our challenge at Classic Design Challenge we really appreciate you joining in.
ReplyDeleteAnnette DT
Back again, and again, just so beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us over at Morgan's ArtWorld. We hope to see you again.
ReplyDelete~ Annette CT -
Beautiful card!Thanks for playing our challenge at CCC Digi Creations. Stay safe and Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAnneke DT
Sweet card! So glad you joined us over at Morgan's ArtWorld. We hope to see you again.
ReplyDelete~ Arlene CT
Beautiful creation! Thank you for sharing with us over at Let's Craft and Create. We hope to see you again.
ReplyDelete~ Sherry DT/Admin xx
WOW this is amazing and love it, thanks so much for entering our challenge,
ReplyDeleteCAS (CUTE & Simple)
with your fabulous design at[aNNie designer for The Sisterhood of Crafters]
https://thejourneyisthestarthere.blogspot.com/{My Blog}
Cute card, I love your colors and image. Thank you for joining us at the Crafts Galore Encore Challenge.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Danka
Twórcze pasje Danki {My Blog}
Another wonderful creation! Loving all the colors and cute dog!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for joining in again at my Crafty Wednesday challenge where it's all about Flora and/or Fauna (or anything crafty goes).
Ellie
Ellibelle's Corner
Beautiful work, very cute card. Please remember next time that to be considered as a winner at Time Out we only allow 5 combined challenges, one of them being ours. Thank you for sharing your card with us.
ReplyDeleteThis is so adorable!! The image is super cute and I LOVE the shape of your card base!! The rainbow feathers are a fun touch! Thanks for playing with The House That Stamps Built.
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous Jo Ann. Thank you for sharing with us over at Morgan's ArtWorld. Love to see you join in each month.
ReplyDelete~ Gail CT - http://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/
Such a lovely card, thanks for sharing it with us at the Let's Craft and Create Challenge Blog
ReplyDeleteHugs Ilonka DT
I love how you stamped the feather in different colors. Such a cool effect. Great card. Thanks for joining the challenge at Love To Craft Challenge Blog. Dorlene DT LTCCB
ReplyDeleteI love your project!
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking part in the Clever Dexter challenge.
I hope see you again.
Good luck,
Roberta DT Clever Dexter
Lovely project Jo Ann. Thank you for sharing with us over here at LeAnn’s World 101 and best of luck with your entry.
ReplyDeleteWendy DT Member for https://challengeleannsworld101.blogspot.com/
Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you for playing along with us this month in the Clever Dexter Challenge - DT Irene - Clever Dexter Challenge