Scripture Series: I Will Go Before Thee Card---It's Inspirational...It's Anything Goes at Word Art Wednesday!

It's Wednesday once again, Crafty Peeps!  We just finished a couple of weeks looking at stunning and wonderful entries at the Word Art Wednesday (WAW) Blog and each of the them were wonderful and a blessing to us in the Design Team.  Today, we are bringing you another bi-weekly Challenge as we feature a new Scripture Word Art (free to download at the WAW site) and it comes from Isaiah 45:2 which tells us, "I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron."  It is important to know the context of this Scripture for it will give us a clearer understanding on how God's plan work.  I would like to share what I gathered from my Life Application Bible in regards to  this prophecy delivered by Isaiah before the intended recipient (Cyrus II of Persia or Cyrus the Great) even existed.  Here's what we need to know about him:  "Isaiah, who prophesied from 740-681 B.C., called Cyrus by name almost 150 years before he ruled (559-530 B.C.)!  Later historians said that Cyrus read this prophecy and was so moved that he carried it out.  Isaiah also predicted that Jerusalem would fall more than 100 years before it happened (586 B.C.) and that the temple would be rebuilt about 200 years before it happened.  It is clear these prophecies came from a God who knows the future.  Isaiah 45:1-8 is found to be the only place in the Bible where a Gentile (not a Jew, seen as pagans) ruler is said to be "anointed."  God is the power over all powers, and He anoints whom He chooses for His special task.  Cyrus' kingdom spread across 2,000 miles (the largest of any empire then known), including the territories of both the Assyrian and the Babylonian empires.  Why did God anoint Cyrus?  Because God had a special task for him to do for Israel.  Cyrus would allow God's city, Jerusalem, to be rebuilt, and he would set the exiles free without expecting anything in return.  Few kings of Israel or Judah had done as much for God's people as Cyrus did."  

Given this backdrop, we begin to realize that the God of Creation, the Great I am, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One and Only (True) God.  He knows the end from the beginning and His infinite wisdom and understanding are beyond anyone of us (finite beings) can understand.  He has a plan for the world and the people He created! Though He gave us the free will  to choose, none of our choices  (good or bad) can thwart His ultimate plan.  We also need to acknowledge the fact that if God's people (believers) does not step up to carry out God's plan, He can literally use anybody...We need to ask ourselves, do we want to be an obstruction to God's plan or acknowledge His move and cooperate with Him?  Proverbs 19:20-21 says, "Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.  Many are the plans in a person’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."  We all know how difficult it is to swim against the current yet that is what we put ourselves into when we go against the Will of God.  In order to know His Will, we need to be familiar with His Word (God's written revelation).  That unveils to us Who God is and reveals to us Jesus Christ (God's personal revelation).  Through His Son, we get a personal experience of the God Whom we serve.   If God Almighty can use Cyrus (a pagan ruler) to facilitate His plan, how much more can He not use every man and woman who has given their lives to the Lordship of His Son and in whom Jesus gave up His life to redeem?  Therefore, every heart in whom God established His throne can lay claim to the promises spoken to Cyrus by God Himself.  When He said "I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight,"  He is telling us that His protection is upon us and He has made a way for us even in the darkest of situations.  He will shine His light and that we will not have to fear the terrors that come at night.  His provision is leading us that no evil plan set up for us will prosper.  In fact, they will be annihilated and destroyed in accordance to His great plan.   He also promised, "I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron."  There's literally nothing that will hinder us from taking one territory to another.  No matter what the plots are, though it be protected with the thickest wall of stone, the strongest kinds of humanity's brass and iron, it will hold no power against the One True God and His people.  If we only know the power within us (when we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and became a child of God)---fear will have no place among us.  One of my favorite verses summarizes what this post is all about.  It's in Romans 8:31-34 which says, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."  I pray that we be sensitive to the work of God in our lives as well as His leading to our country---America, and the rest of the world!  Let us call upon Him daily and recognize whom He has sent to represent Him and rid of all our fleshly/worldly preference.  We have a choice to vote Godly or ungodly in our future election.  All I can tell you is that God has heard the cry of His people in this nation and He shall execute His plan mightily to save America!  I am happy to have seen and heard many others that were given the same revelation.  If you say you are a child of God, do not be an opposition to the work of the Lord!  Pray and seek His face, know His Word and you will not find yourself swimming against the current of God's divine plan!
 
For this Card, I used an image I got for free from Digital Two for Tuesday Blog a while back and I colored it with my ProMarker/Prismacolor/Spectrum Noir markers.  I also did some inking on the skyline using Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans).  The base is a Kraft pre-cut A7 size card that comes with an envelope.  I attached some brown brads from Recollections for added dimension.  Lastly, I stitched all over this project.  I was more than happy with the result.

                                                 I WILL GO BEFORE THEE CARD

                                            I WILL GO BEFORE THEE CARD LAYERS

                                             I WILL GO BEFORE THEE CARD INSIDE

                                      I WILL GO BEFORE THEE CARD WITH ENVELOPE

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Wonderful Wednesday---ATG
Our Crafty Corner---ATG
Love to Scrap---ATG
Lemon Shortbread---ATG
Inky Chicks---ATG
Creative Moments---ATG
Digitally Sweet---Colour Palette (Digi Image from Digital Two Tuesday)
Inspiration Destination---ATG
TTCRD---ATG
Crafty Friends---ATG
Scrappers' Delights---ATG
Pencil Case---Kraft/Black
Craft for the Craic---January Blues
Crafting with Friends---ATG
Simply Papercraft---ATG
DoubleClick---ATG
Fresh Brewed---Fave Season (I love Spring! Not too hot nor too cold)
Crafty Addicts---ATG/Elegance
Digi Choosday---Stitching
Retarte---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.  Lots of prizes to be won from our two wonderful sponsors---The Stamps for Life (Stamp of Choice) and The Cutting Cafe (Cutting/Digi Files).  So excited to see what you come up with.  Anyway, cheer up and let the joy of the Lord overtake you today while being sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  Pray and keep on praying.  The Lord is going to do great and mighty things to our nation.