Scripture Series: My Yoke Upon You Center Step Card---Join Our Anything Goes/Inspirational Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

Hi there, Crafty Peeps!  Back with another card to highlight another Scripture Word Art for our bi-weekly Challenge happening at Word Art Wednesday (WAW).  This Word Art (you can download for free at the WAW site) comes from Matthew 11:29 which says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

Wow, what a powerful verse that assures us that we are never alone in this life.  Everything and anything we encounter does not come to us by chance.  There is always a purpose.  We rejoice in the blessings while we learn from the trials.  Often times, we tend to carry the burdens on our own.  We try as hard as we can to deal with problems that we think are within our capacity to solve and that only in hopeless situations (after we exhausted everything in our power) do we come to the Lord and ask for His help.  There's an overwhelming sense of joy and thankfulness when God miraculously come to our rescue in those "bigger than life" trying moments.  But I submit to you that as I grow in the knowledge of God and experience a deeper level of fellowship with Him through prayer, reading His Word, listening to His voice and recognizing His wisdom in every situation, I began inquiring of Him not just in desperate times but also in the simplest of trials where a decision has to be made.  Whether it be financial, relational, emotional, mental or spiritual,  I come to Him first before formulating and deciding on any solution on my own.  We must understand that there is nothing too simple nor complicated for God.  He wants us to come and inquire of Him all the days of our lives.  There will never be a time when we can outsmart God.  He guided me in my younger years as a Christian and helped me mature in the faith.  One day, I'll be totally Christ-like---ruling and reigning with Him.  

The heart of God is for us to have an intimate relationship with Him.  He lives inside of us and is with us all the time.  Gone were the days when God's presence only dwelt in the Ark of the Covenant in the  Tent of David or Solomon's Temple.  Jesus died on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day to complete God's plan of redemption.  Anyone who places their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ died with Him, buried with Him and resurrected with Him into the New Covenant.  This extraordinary encounter with God is known as the Born-again experience (John 3:3-6).  By the individual's confession of faith (that comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God) in Jesus Christ, the seed of God's Word (water) is implanted into a man's receptive heart and the Holy Spirit causes the spiritual regeneration of that seed inside that individual.  The degree in which we yield ourselves in obedience to God's Word determines the level of growth (fruitfulness) that manifest in our lives.  The process of yielding and obeying is easier said than done.  That's because our human nature (selfishness)  steps in the way of our walk with God and is often affected/complicated by the trials and storms we encounter daily.  But that is why we shouldn't rely on our own strength.  Jesus wants to partner with us so we can carry the load with Him.  The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, "But he (Lord) said to me (Paul), “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  When we partner with God, the load is definitely lighter for He carries most of the weight.  I would like to share with you what my Life Application Bible shared about our highlighted verse for it has truly blessed me.  It says, "A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen.  It is attached to a piece of equipment the oxen are to pull.  A person may be carrying heavy burdens of (1) sin,  (2) excessive demands of religious leaders (Matthew 23:4; Acts 15:10), (3) oppression and persecution, or (4) weariness in the search of God.  Jesus frees people from all these burdens.  The "rest" that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor.  A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.  In what sense was Jesus' yoke easy?  The yoke emphasizes the challenges, work and difficulties of partnering with Christ in life.  Responsibilities weight us down, even the effort of staying true to God.  But Jesus' yoke remains easy compared to the crushing alternative.  Jesus doesn't offer a life of luxurious ease---the yoke is still an oxen's tool for working hard.  But it's a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than yours.  Someone with more pulling power is up front helping.  Suddenly you are participating in life's responsibilities with a great Partner---and now that frown can turn into a smile, and that gripe into a song."

For this Card, I used an image from our sponsor, Bugaboo Stamps called "Two Girls" and colored it using my Prismacolor/Touch Five markers.  The base is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches center step card design.  The DP's are from Paper Studio, the flowers I layered are from Prima, the brad from Recollections and the circle and lacy circle panels were die-cut from Nestabilities.  Lastly, I stitched all over this Card.  I really love the results.

 MY YOKE UPON YOU CENTER STEP CARD

 MY YOKE UPON YOU CENTER STEP CARD LAYERS

 MY YOKE UPON YOU CENTER STEP CARD SIDE VIEW

 MY YOKE UPON YOU CENTER STEP CARD INSIDE

MY YOKE UPON YOU CENTER STEP CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Calling all Sistahs---Encouragement
Create and Inspire---ATG/All About Mums
Hanna and Friends---Easter/Spring
Morgan's Artworld---ATG
Not Just Cards---ATG
Sparkles---Spring is in the Air
Sweet Stampers---Spring/Easter
Creative Crafters---ATG
Bastel-Traum---Easter/Spring
Worldwide Open DT---ATG
Crafty Creations---ATG
Crafty Gals---ATG
Inspiration Destination---ATG
Sisterhood of Crafters---Spring Flowers

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.  Our awesome sponsors awarding our winners wonderful prizes are The Project Bin ($15 GC) and Bugaboo Stamps (Digis).  So excited to see what you come up with.  Are you struggling on anything today?  Call unto Jesus for He's always there for you.