Scripture Series: Bought with a Price Card---Our Final Challenge in 2015...Join Us for More Inspirational Challenge at Word Art Wednesday in 2016!

Hello there, Crafty Friends!  First of all, I would like to greet you all a BLESSED AND WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!  So many things have happened this 2015 that I am so grateful for but there's also lots of situations that didn't turn out so well.  That goes for both my personal life and the other---the state  of our nation and the world.  Many people are just concerned with their own lives that they neglect/choose to ignore what's going on around them.  Yet everything that happens to us on a personal level are/can be affected by someone's decision.  Whether we like it or not, we are a part of a whole.  So my prayer for the year 2016 is for everyone who profess the name of Christ and are part of His Body (Church/Ekklesia---Called-out Ones) to strongly unite towards one common goal.  That is to fulfill the purposes of God in their lives by standing firmly on the Word of God.   Each of us have different opinions on issues but to silence everyone to unity, we need to submit to what the Lord says in His Word.  We need to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with God's divine wisdom and to give us a teachable spirit.  I pray also for those that have been deceived by the doctrines of this world to be awakened and get back to the Way of Truth.  As we await the coming of our Lord Jesus to establish His divine rule on earth, let us continue to spread the Gospel of Christ (His death, burial and resurrection) even in the midst of growing opposition and insanity.  There's still a lot of people out there who are waiting to hear what the Cross of Christ has done for them.  That also means we have to share the Truth of God to our families and friends without compromise.  Tolerance and political correctness are disguised as "love" nowadays but "TRUE LOVE" willingly corrects and points someone to the Truth in order to gain an everlasting reward for both the sinner and the saint.  Among  our biggest reward would be to see our love ones/friends escape the "lake of fire" forever and to be eternally saved  in the presence of God along with many others that believed.  There's only ONE WAY to God's presence---JESUS CHRIST!  No man-made religion can bring anyone to Him.  Only a personal relationship (Born-again, John 3:3) through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished at the Cross  will take you down that narrow path engineered by no other than God, Himself!  If you want to know God, seek His Word! Jeremiah 33:3 tells us what God wants us to do when we need answers to life's questions, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Anyway, we started our final challenge for this year yesterday at Word Art Wednesday (WAW).  We have some wonderful news and changes coming up for 2016 so, all of you that have been joining and leaving us encouraging comments about our work for the Lord will be so blessed as well.  You'll hear of them by next week.  Today's featured Scripture Word Art (you can download for free at the WAW site) came from 1 Corinthians 6:20 which tells us, "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."  The context of this verse has to do with fleeing from "sexual immorality. "  Outside of marriage exclusively between one man and one woman, all kinds of sexual desires and actions fall under this category.  I encourage you to read the entire chapter to obtain clarity and therefore find Truth.  I love how my Life Application Bible explained this verse and the couple of other verses that came before it.  I just want to share it with you as it's awesome. It states, "Christians are free to be all they can be for God, but they are not free from God.  God created sex to be a beautiful and essential ingredient of marriage, but sexual sin (sex outside the marriage relationship) always hurts someone.  It hurts God because it shows that we prefer following our own desires instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit.  It hurts others because it violates the commitment so necessary to a relationship.  It often brings disease to our bodies.  And it deeply affects our personalities, which respond in anguish when we harm ourselves physically and spiritually.  What did Paul mean when he said that our bodies belong to God?  Many people say they have the right to do whatever they want with their own bodies.  Although they think that this is freedom, they are really enslaved by their own desires.  When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit fills and lives in us.  Therefore, we no longer own our bodies.  "Bought at a price" refers to slaves purchased at auction.  Christ's death freed us from sin, but also obligates us to His service.  If you live in a building owned by someone else, you try not to violate the building's rules.  Because your body belongs to God, you must not violate His standards for living."  

What an awesome exhortation.  I remembered when I came to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  I was so lost and desperate.  I have lost the will to live and was asking God to get me out of my meaningless existence.  On the outside, everyone thought I was strong and was doing great yet inside of me, I was so empty and broken.  I called on the One I barely knew and with a leap of faith, I humbled myself before Him and confessed my sins. I acknowledged what Jesus did for me at the Cross and accepted His gift of forgiveness and love.  I surrendered my life and welcomed Him as Lord and Savior.   It was that short yet sincere prayer that changed my life so radically and compelled me to share the hope I found in Him twenty-five years ago to this day.  I SURRENDERED MY LIFE AND INVITED HIM AS MY LORD!  That is the crystal clear Truth that guided my life today... I fully recognize that my life is no longer my own---it's under the authority of the One I gave my life to and He rules and  lives His life inside of me!  I would like to leave you with the following verses to encourage you to hold on to the promises of God no matter what life brings:

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (1 Peter 1:18-19)

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."  (Philippians 1:20-21)

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  (Romans 12:1-2)

For this Card, I stamped an image from Prima (Julie Nutting) called "Megan" and paper-pieced the clothes using most of my DP scraps.  The base is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card.  I rounded the edges using with my Corner Chomper.  I layered the flowers from Prima and added a pearl brad at its center.  I applied some glitters (Stickles-Crystal) to the clothing as well as the flowers.  Finally, I stitched all over this creation.  I would say---elegantly simple!

                                                 BOUGHT WITH A PRICE CARD:

                                           BOUGHT WITH A PRICE CARD LAYERS:

                                            BOUGHT WITH A PRICE CARD INSIDE:

                                    BOUGHT WITH A PRICE CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX:


This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Creatalicious---Soemthing Old, Something New (Old: Flowers, New: Image)
Creative Craft---Add Some Sparkle
Lia Stampz---ATG
Sweet Stamps---ATG
2 Crafty Girls---Winter Blues/ATG
4 Crafty Chicks---Crazy Egg/ATG
As You Like It---ATG
CRAFT---ATG
Cut Card Thursday---ATG
Crafty Gals---ATG
Crafty Creations---ATG
Creative Moments---ATG
DoubleClick Skittles---ATG
Inspiration Destination---ATG
Moo-Mania---ATG
The Paper Shelter---ATG'
Crafty Addicts---ATG
Creative Card Crew---ATG
Deep Ocean---ATG
Lemon Shortbread---ATG
Retarte---ATG
TTCRD---ATG
Tuesday Throwdown---ATG
Crafting from the Heart---ATG
Love to Scrap---ATG
Our Crafty Corner---Winter/ATG


There you have it friends!  Hope you enjoyed browsing at the pics and reading this post.  Please don't forget to join us at this week's WAW Challenge by linking your "Anything Goes" projects.  You can use the free Word Art in your entry but it's not mandatory.  As long as your creation is family-friendly, inspirational and uplifting, you can enter up to 5 projects to have more chances of winning.  Our sponsors for this week are Verses Rubber Stamps ($20 GC) and Fresh Brewed Designs (3 digi images).  You don't want to miss out on these wonderful prizes so, make sure to join our Challenge.   Have a Great New Year and be safe, everyone!