Scripture Series: Thou Hast Established Lattice Card---Join the Fun of Our Family Friendly Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

Hello there, Crafty guys and gals!  Welcome to another Inspirational Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW) featuring another freebie Scripture Word Art (downloadable at the WAW site). It comes from Psalm 119:90 which states, "Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth." What's striking about this verse is that it speaks of the faithfulness of God which was not inclusive to the people of old but to every generation.  In this world that calls us many awful names when we tell them of our blessed hope in Christ and forces us "to adapt to the times (trendy, popular, modern day ethics/lifestyles and media hype.)" and abandon the timeless and trusted counsel of God's Word, what they (the ungodly) really seek to achieve is to eradicate the existence of God in our beings (making us believe He does not exist) so that they can do whatever they please without anyone reminding them they are accountable to God for their every action.  But despite their lies, everything around us proclaim the reality of God's presence! His glory is reflected by everything He created.  It is sad to see that many drank the Kool-Aid of deception and throughout history, evil men were/are used as pawns to advance Satan's agenda.  We must recognize that evil days are upon America and is hovering around the world.  It wasn't long ago when I was reading about people being beheaded due to their faith in Christ in the Book of Revelation. That time, I thought it was more symbolic than literal.  But God's Word is precise and His prophecies shall all come to pass.  I am sure you have heard of the horrendous beheading of  Christians all over the Middle East by Islamic extremists/terrorists  who imposes their false religion on those who bear the name of Christ.  But should all of these evil cause us to be fearful and doubt God's faithfulness?  Realistically and truthfully, many would say, "Yes!".  So, should we just hide in a corner and wait for these things to come on our doorstep?  I submit to you, "NOT AT ALL!"  For us that trust the Lord and have experienced God's faithfulness on a personal level, we have the blessed assurance of our victory in Christ!  He wants us to stand in this Truth no matter what comes along that He made sure it was written in the pages of the Scripture.  I always tell my friends that "Our Redemption Story (our life in Christ)" contains a precise ending---ETERNAL VICTORY for those who love God!  And who does not like a "Happy Ending?"  In this journey called "Life," there are many twists and turns to the story.  There's plenty of laughter but also lots of pain and tears. We have to live every page of our lives...Yet to know the victory that awaits us should propel us to hold on to the Truth and to never give up.  I always wonder what could be going on in the minds of those children who were killed by Islamic militants because they would not give up Christ in them?  Even in their child-like faith, they knew that what they have inside of them was worth dying for?  I pray that God will give us the grace to stand like these children as we fight for our religious liberty to serve Jesus Christ against the evil tyrants of our day.  To be able to discern who is working for us and against us.

Wikipedia defines "Faithfulness" as "the concept of unfailingly remaining loyal to someone or something and putting that loyalty into consistent practice, regardless of extenuating circumstances. It may be applied to a husband or wife who, in a sexually exclusive marriage, does not engage in sexual relationships outside of the marriage, a customer at a restaurant who regularly dines there, or even to God himself with regard to his perpetual love towards his children that is not dependent on their worthiness. Literally, it is the state of being " full of faith" in the somewhat archaic sense of steady devotion to a person, thing or concept."---I love that it speaks about God's unselfish love that never changes and does not look on man's good works or the lack thereof to be worthy of His love.  Our worthiness in the eyes of God is not of our own doing---it is solely based on what Jesus accomplished on our behalf.  The moment we place our faith on the sacrifice Jesus has won for us and repented of our sins, we are immediately accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-10 is very clear about this when it states, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him."  God has shown us through events in history that what he wrote in Scripture are not just a bunch of empty words but events that had been fulfilled and is being fulfilled and reveals His righteousness and sovereignty that governed our existence and sustains all His creation.  Because of this Truth, we should response to our Father's faithfulness in this way---Faithfulness is believing that God is Who He says He is and continuing in that belief despite the vagaries of life. Functionally, that means we trust what God says in the Bible, and not necessarily what the world or our own eyes tell us. We trust He will work out everything for good. We trust He will work His will in us. And we trust that our situation on earth is nothing compared to our future reward in heaven. The only way we can have such faith is by the Holy Spirit's influence. He testifies to the truth and impels us to seek God. The Spirit makes us faithful.  So, whether we choose to be a part of God's story or not, our decisions will not hinder the Lord from accomplishing His plan.  God will still be God without man's help but man without His Creator is worth nothing.  I would like to share the following verses to celebrate the faithfulness of God to us, through Christ!

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him."  (Deuteronomy 7:9-10)

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." (Romans 5:1-5)

For this Card, I took some inspiration from a YouTube video I came across recently about "Lattice Cards" and I decided to give it a try.  The base is an A7 Kraft card that I layered with a panel that I embossed with one of my fave Cuttlebug folders.  I used Sizzix Framelits for the window, an MS Punch for the Lattice, layered some Prima flowers, die cut a swirl with a Sizzix die and stamped some leaves and fussy cut them. The leaves came with the stamp set that I got recently as freebie from Quick Cards Magazine.  I love it!  I inked the panels, flowers and swirl using Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Vintage Photo and Pine Needles), the brad in the center of the flower from Paper Studio and the metal head gems from Imaginisce.  To complete the look, I stitched all over the card.  I ran through a bit of challenge making this as the A7 card (spread out) does not fit the Cuttlebug and I don't want to reduce my card size to A2 so, I had to use my Craft knife to produce the shape on the base panel which is not very easy due to the thick Kraft CS.  Nevertheless, I made it work and I'm pretty happy with the end result.

THOU HAST ESTABLISHED LATTICE CARD:

THOU HAST ESTABLISHED LATTICE CARD SIDE VIEW:

THOU HAST ESTABLISHED LATTICE CARD INSIDE:

THOU HAST ESTABLISHED LATTICE CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX:

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Creative Moments---ATG/Fancy Folds
Crafty Gals Corner---Lots of Layers
Inspiration Destination---ATG
Simon Says Stamp---ATG
Kraftin' Kimmie---Fall
Papertake Weekly---Distressing
Retarte---ATG
TTCRD---ATG
Tuesday Throwdown---Just Because
Creative Craft Cottage---ATG
Petal Lu---ATG 
Digital Delights---ATG

Have an awesome day everyone and looking forward to see your wonderful projects linked at our WAW Blog.  It will be nice to see the featured Word Art in your Challenge project but not mandatory.  As long as it's family friendly, inspirational and uplifting, you are free to link up to 5 projects.  Our sponsors for this week are A Surprise Gift Set from Karen Letchworth (Stamp sets and goodies) and Deedee's Digis (3 Digis).  Just want to tell you how you can rest in the faithfulness of God at all situations and He wants for you to be part of His  great plan if you'll allow Him.  Hugs and blessing, everyone!