Happy 4th of July, everyone! Our nation's freedom is something all Americans should be very grateful about as it was bought and paid for by many who sacrificed their lives so that we can continue to live life to the fullest. As we celebrate the 240th Independence Day of America and express gratitude to the people that made it all possible, let us not lose focus on the ultimate spiritual freedom that can only come from faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ at the Cross. Many doesn't even pay attention to the death sentence every human being is sure to face once our earthly life is over. Eternal death and torment outside of the presence of God is what's waiting for every individual that refused to repent and come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. By His own blood, He paid the ransom for all our sins and everyone who place their trust in Him shall live eternally free from the bondage of "Sin and Death" that every human being inherited from Adam.
If you haven't received Christ as your Lord and Savior and desire the freedom that only Jesus can provide, you need to make a decision right now to come humbly before God's throne. Pray this simple prayer from your heart and escape eternal judgment that will come upon the proud and rebellious. Say this: "Jesus, I come to you today to give up lordship over my life. I believe that you are the Way, the Truth and the Life and that you died on the Cross to pay for all my sins. I ask for your forgiveness and accept You into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you for welcoming me into Your Kingdom. This I pray, in Jesus' Name, Amen!
I hope many of you decided to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as you come across this post. The truth is, we don't know when our time (physical death) comes. Our eternal destination will depend upon the choices we made while on earth. Eternity is something we can't afford to waste. I hope you seize the opportunity to answer God's call today while there still time. Just as the entrance to Noah's Ark closed in the time of such great flood and all but one family was saved , the period of Grace through faith in Christ is going to close very soon! It will be a terrible tragedy for everyone who misses it. I want to leave the following verses to encourage everyone to stay focus on the Lord's promises in His Word as we face challenges in our personal life, our nation and the world as a whole.
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:1-10)
"So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:6-10)
I hope many of you decided to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as you come across this post. The truth is, we don't know when our time (physical death) comes. Our eternal destination will depend upon the choices we made while on earth. Eternity is something we can't afford to waste. I hope you seize the opportunity to answer God's call today while there still time. Just as the entrance to Noah's Ark closed in the time of such great flood and all but one family was saved , the period of Grace through faith in Christ is going to close very soon! It will be a terrible tragedy for everyone who misses it. I want to leave the following verses to encourage everyone to stay focus on the Lord's promises in His Word as we face challenges in our personal life, our nation and the world as a whole.
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:1-10)
"So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:6-10)
Anyway, I want to share with you the project I made for our Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create with an Optional Twist (Use a Rose). For this Card, I used an image from Stamping Bella called "Uptown Bella and Barney Have a BBQ" that I water colored with my Stabilo 68 Pens. The base is white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square/shaped card. The DP's are from Paper Studio and Recollections, the trellis die-cut from Nestabilities, the Washi tapes from Recollections, the flower from Prima and the nail head gems from Imaginisce. I added some glitters to the image using Stickles (Crystal). The wonderful sentiment came with the image and finally, I ran the panels through my sewing machine for that regular and fancy stitching all over this creation. I love it!
ENJOY LIFE BBQ CARD
ENJOY LIFE BBQ CARD LAYERS
ENJOY LIFE BBQ CARD SIDE VIEW
ENJOY LIFE BBQ CARD INSIDE
ENJOY LIFE BBQ CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX
This Card is entered into the following Challenges:
Artistic Inspirations---ATG
Crafting from the Heart---ATG
Craft Your Passion---ATG
OLLCB---Something beginning with "F" (Flower)
Paper Nest Dolls---ATG
Dragonfly Dreams---ATG
Eclectic Ellapu---ATG
Great Impressions---ATG
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends---ATG
OSAAT---ATG with Flowers
Penny Black---ATG with Stamp
Deep Ocean---Colors of Summer
Fairy Tale---Sumner Special
Retarte---ATG
TTCRD---ATG
There you have it, folks! Don't miss the opportunity to join our Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create. There's wonderful prizes awaiting the winners from our lovely sponsors for this week---Melonheadz, Eureka Stamps and The Stamping Boutique . Can't wait to see what fabulous projects you're going to link with us. I hope you have a great week and know that through faith in what Jesus accomplished through the Cross, we have complete victory over whatever life may throw at us! Thank you Lord...
Artistic Inspirations---ATG
Crafting from the Heart---ATG
Craft Your Passion---ATG
OLLCB---Something beginning with "F" (Flower)
Paper Nest Dolls---ATG
Dragonfly Dreams---ATG
Eclectic Ellapu---ATG
Great Impressions---ATG
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends---ATG
OSAAT---ATG with Flowers
Penny Black---ATG with Stamp
Deep Ocean---Colors of Summer
Fairy Tale---Sumner Special
Retarte---ATG
TTCRD---ATG
There you have it, folks! Don't miss the opportunity to join our Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create. There's wonderful prizes awaiting the winners from our lovely sponsors for this week---Melonheadz, Eureka Stamps and The Stamping Boutique . Can't wait to see what fabulous projects you're going to link with us. I hope you have a great week and know that through faith in what Jesus accomplished through the Cross, we have complete victory over whatever life may throw at us! Thank you Lord...
What a wonderful tag shaped card Jo Ann - love how you have coloured Bella :-) The trellis die cut is a wonderful background.
ReplyDeleteI was talking with a friend recently about the state of the world, and our concensus was that we are glad we know the end of the story, and Who is ultimately in control - and yes, we do have a responsibility to pray for our nation(s).
Blessings
Maxine
Blessings
Maxine
I love that you made it look like a house with the roof line on top - how creative!!
ReplyDelete~ginny
RubberMAD
So beautiful! Love the colors and the layers. Thank you for joining us at Stampartpapel Retarte#80
ReplyDeleteAlexandra Dt
Funky
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for entering our ATG challenge at Through The Craft Room Door this week. Looking forward to see you again next challenge.
Regards,
TTCRD DT
Mel Gee crafts {My Blog}
Through The Craft Room Door
ttcrd.blogspot.com
Thank you for the message J., constant reminder of the gift of grace. The card is awesome, I love that you've given us a glimpse of the inside as well. I like to look at the whole project to see how it flows inside and out. I wish more crafters would do that. Thank you for sharing with us Eclectic Ellapu, looking forward to your next creation. Good luck in the challenge.
ReplyDeletePreciosa tarjeta! Gracias por participar con nosotras en RETARTE de Stampartpapel...Feliz semana, Paula.DT
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun, summer themed card! Thanks for joining our anything goes, with optional Patriotic themed challenge this month at Great Impressions Stamps. Julie, DT member
ReplyDeleteThis is a fabulous card, so many brilliant details.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining us at Ooh La La Creations.
I am having a little Give Away on my blog if you would like to take a look - http://craftingwithcotnob.blogspot.co.uk/
Pauline
x
Thank you for sharing your gorgeous card with us at Ooh La La Creations. That little image is so cute! Michelle x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely and summer like project. I love the pritty colours. Thank you for joining our summer challenge at Fairy Tale Challengeblog. XX Bianca XX
ReplyDeleteWhat a detailed and lovely bright card. What a beautiful image and your colouring is perfect.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for taking the time to share with us at Penny Black & More.
Lynn x
DT
What a fun card! Thank you for joining us at Dragonfly Dreams. Cindy (DT)
ReplyDeleteAwesome card! Love the scene you created for the lovely image! Thank you for joining our Great Impressions Challenge this month, and I hope you to see you next month.
ReplyDeleteRuza ~ GI DTC
Ruza's Craft Corner