Scripture Series: Because He First Loved Us Card—Join the Fun of our Anything/Inspirational Goes Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

Hello there, guys!  So, we began another Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW) a couple of days ago featuring another Scripture Word Art which you can download for free at the WAW site.  It comes from 1 John 4:19 which says, "We love him, because he first loved us."

It is written that when God made Man into His own image and likeness, He breathe unto them life.  And with that life comes the ability to love as God is love and the true Source of love. We lived in a pure and loving relationship with our Father in heaven and enjoying everything He provided us.  But Adam disobeyed God that ushered Sin and Death to come into this world. It severed our spiritual connection with God, corrupted/perverted our relationship with Him and changed our view of God and His love as a whole.  We've tainted God's Agape (selfless) love and adapted a more self-centered lifestyle to satisfy the cravings of our fallen human nature.  And throughout history, we remained that way---tearing each other apart to get our piece of world dominance. And we can't help it because the very nature of the enemy that seeks to kill, steal and destroy have taken over to darken our minds and made our hearts cold and calloused. We were utterly hopeless, destined for wrath if left on our own. 

But God knew that from the very beginning!  His omniscience (all knowing) saw that coming before the foundations of the earth were even set in place.   He wanted mankind to be an integral part of His creation and He would stop at nothing to save and restore them back to the divine nature they had before Sin happened.  The merciful and loving heart of God was revealed for all the world to see as we watched John 3:16-17 came into fulfillment in the pages of our history that says, "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 Father showed us through His Son Jesus Christ the meaning of pure and true love!  For Jesus (Who knew no Sin) left His heavenly throne to sacrifice Himself to the ruthless punishment of death on the Cross so that anyone who receives His gift of salvation would be reconciled, justified and sanctified in the presence of the Father through the shedding of His blood.  And because every Born-again believer (John 3:3) received God's mercy and love by way of the Cross, we are to demonstrate that same love to our fellow believers in the Body of Christ and allow the "selfless" love of Christ in us to permeate the world.  If we truly see our brethren in the faith as loved by God, we will avoid many of the petty issues we have against each other.  That's because we need to understand that we're in different levels of growth.  When admonishing one another, we still have to do it in love.  But no matter how hard we try (at times) to help our brethren understand the Biblical implications of their actions, we would encounter hostile reactions.  Sometimes, we just need to pray for them from a distance while striving for peace. Always remembering Romans 5:6-8 in our daily encounters in life which says, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  So very true!  We were once sinners that are saved by grace by our loving Father whose love knew no boundaries.  If we have love for our brethren and mankind as a whole, that's only because we have received the greatest love of all first---God's pure and selfless love in Jesus Christ!

I would like to add what My Life Application shared about our highlighted verse today as it sure blessed me. It says, "God's love is the source of all human love and it spreads like fire.  In loving His children, God kindles a flame in their hearts.  In turn, they love others, who are warmed by God's love through them.  If we ever are afraid of the future, eternity, or God's judgment, we can remind ourselves of God's love.  We know that He loves us perfectly (Romans 8:38-39).  We can resolve our fears first by focusing on His immeasurable love for us, and then by allowing Him to love others through us.  His love will quiet your fears and give you confidence.  It is easy to say we love God when that love doesn't cost us anything more than weekly attendance at religious services.  But the real test of our love for God is how we treat the people right in front of us---our family members and fellow believers.  We cannot truly love God while neglecting to love those who are created in His image."

For this Card, I used a die-cut flower image from Sizzix and colored it with Distress Inks. The base is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card. The DP is from Paper Studio.  I also die-cut the oblong and the lacy oblong using Nestabilities.  I used Distress Inks on the background frame of the flower and added a script stamp from Hip Stamp Hooray.  Instead of my usual stitching, I chose a lacy stamp from Fiskars to create the borders on my card.  I printed the WAW Scripture Word Art on the side and included three dew drops to complete my design.  I think it came out pretty good!

 

 

BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US CARD

BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US CARD LAYERS

BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US CARD INSIDE

BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

 

A Bit More Time---ATG 

A Perfect Time---ATG

Ching-Chou Kuik---ATG/All You Need Is Love

Classic Design---ATG 

Clever Dexter---Fave Technique (I love layered cards)

Crafts Galore---ATG

Craftyhazelnut's---Patterned Paper

Creatalicious---ATG/Love

Daisy Chain---For the Girls

Dies R Us---Valentine's/Love

Digi Doodle Studios---Love and/or Friendship

LeAnn's World---ATG

Let's Craft and Create---ATG/From the Heart

Love to Craft---ATG

Love to Scrap---ATG

Mirtillamente---ATG

Morgan's Artworld---ATG

Pearly Sparkles---ATG

QKR---ATG

River of Creativity---ATG

Sognando---ATG/Love

Crafting Challenge---Love

Worldwide Open DT---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 this week.  Great prize to be won from our wonderful sponsor---Pretty Pink Posh ($30 GC).  So excited to see what you come up with.  Anyway, cheer up and let the love of the Lord overtake you today.  In Christ, we literally have the greatest love of all from our Father in heaven.

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