Scripture Series: He is God in Heaven Center Step Card---Come and Join Us for Another Fun and Inspirational Challenge Happening at Word Art Wednesday!

Hello everyone,  I'm here to share another card that I made featuring our Scripture Word Art for our Word Art Wednesday (WAW) current Challenge.  Like always, you can download it for free at the WAW site if you want to use it for your projects.  It comes from Deuteronomy 4:39 which tells us, "Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else." This verse  is packed with Truth which simply states---THERE IS BUT ONE GOD!  No one compares to Him and nobody can even come close to being Him.  But in order to fully understand the depth of this verse, we must let Scripture support/interpret Scripture to find context (true meaning) for complete understanding.  

Deuteronomy 4 deals with Moses' address to the Israelites who would enter the Promised Land (under Joshua's leadership).  He reminded them of obedience to God's laws, and to never forget all they had seen (God's great miracles) when God freed them from their bondage in Egypt.  He also warned them of idolatry.  My Life Application Bible explains, "We must remember that idol worship was not just keeping statues around the house---harmless lumps of clay, wood or iron.  It was the commitment to other evil qualities, beliefs and practices the idol represented (such as murder, prostitution, cruelty in war, self-centeredness).  When the strength and attributes of powerful humans or animals are revered or the cycles of nature are honored without reference to God who created them, this is idolatry.  Because God had so clearly revealed himself in Israel's history, the Israelites had no excuse for worshiping any person or power but the one true God."  Deuteronomy 4:23-24 tells  us, "Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." An exhortation from my Bible  explains,"Jealousy is a demand for someone else's exclusive affection or loyalty.  Some jealousy is bad.  It is destructive for a person to get upset when his or her spouse talks to someone of the opposite sex.  But other jealousy is good.  It is right for a man to demand that his wife treat him, and only him, as her husband (and vice versa).  Usually, we use the word "jealousy" only for the bad reaction.  But God's kind of jealousy is appropriate and good.  He is defending His Word and guiding His high honor.  He makes a strong, exclusive demand on us:  We must treat only the Lord---and no one else in all the universe---as God!" I love how God's Word substantiated the importance of acknowledging God for Who He truly is---the One and Only God, in the verses before Deuteronomy 4:39.   Deuteronomy 4:32-38 says," Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today."

All of the verses I shared with you here tells us that we need to be serious in living our lives for the glory of the One and Only God who created all of humanity.  For He alone knew each and everyone of us at our innermost and He is the very life that keeps us going.  He is the One who gives us purpose and meaning and without Him, we don't/cannot exist.  I had a meaningful talk with a friend in my Bible class last week and she told me how she was praying for a friend battling with cancer.  Our topic was "how do we encourage a fellow believer to fight the good fight of faith while he/she experiences the pain and anxiety from a sickness that claimed so many lives."  We both agreed that genuine FAITH (trust)  involves the complete and total surrender of one's life to the Lord (even to the point of physical death).  That He who gave us this life in the first place can heal all aspect of our being and that includes our  physically bodies.  But on the flip side of that truth, He can also choose to call us home to embark on the everlasting life in His presence.  It's easy to say we trust God when everything is going well in our lives.  But when we are confronted by our mortality, how many out there can truthfully say, "God I trust in your will to heal me but if you have another plan, I willingly submit my life to you."? Wow, it takes us knowing the very heart of God and what He has in store not only here but for eternity to confidently pursue God the way Apostle Paul did in Philippians 1:20-21which says, "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." I pray that we come to the Truth of who God is as we look at the life lived by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  He became God in the flesh in order to redeem us from Sin (Sin nature) and Death (a separation---spiritual, physical and eternal).  He also showed us the perfect will and heart of the Father for everyone who chooses to place their faith in Him (Born-again, John 3:3).  Through our new birth in Christ, we are spiritually reconnected with God, though we would die in the physical body (unless Rapture comes first), He will resurrect us (First Resurrection) and give us glorified bodies in order to live and reign with Him forever.  Apart from the Lord Jesus, there is no salvation and hope for mankind from anyone or anywhere else. Physical death may be the end of our earthly existence but it's the beginning of our eternal existence (without pain and suffering) as promised to all who had given their earthly lives to Christ.  Romans 14:7-8 states, "For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord."  What an amazing promise we have in Jesus Christ! 

For this Card, I used a digi image from Make it Crafty called "Fern Log" that I colored using my ProMarker and Prismacolor markers.  The base is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches center step design.  The DP's are from K and Company, the washi tape and brad are from Recollections and the layered flowers are from Prima.  I incorporated some Liquid Pearls (White Opal) from Ranger, glittered the flower using Stickles (Crystal) and stitched all over this card.  So happy with the result. 

 HE IS GOD IN HEAVEN CENTER STEP CARD

 HE IS GOD IN HEAVEN CENTER STEP CARD LAYERS

 HE IS GOD IN HEAVEN CENTER STEP CARD SIDE VIEW

 HE IS GOD IN HEAVEN CENTER STEP CARD INSIDE

HE IS GOD IN HEAVEN CENTER STEP CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Crafting with Friends---ATG
Crafty Catz---ATG
QKR---ATG
Simply Create Too---ATG
Cardz 4 Galz---Dimensional Elements
Crafting with an Attitude---ATG
ITD Creative---ATG
Back to Basics---Shaped Card
Crafting by Designs---Corners, Borders, Frames
Crafty Creations---ATG
Crafty Gals---Make it Sparkle (glitters on flowers)
I Love ProMarkers---ATG/Something New
Paper Shelter---Digi Image
Sisterhood of Crafters---Sparkle
Crafty Addicts---ATG
Lemon Shortbread---ATG
TTCRD---ATG
Artistic Inspirations---ATG/Tag
Crafting from the Heart---ATG
Get Creative---ATG
Path of Positivity---Inspiration
Scrapbook Stamp Society---ATG
Paper Nest Dolls---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 several times in two weeks.  A great prize awaits our winner from our wonderful sponsor---The Greeting Farm ($40 GC).  So excited to see what you come up with.  Anyway, meditate on the goodness of the Lord and rely on His promises.  As we see the world becoming more deceived each day, let us hold on to the hope and strength that only the Word of God can give.  We serve a good and faithful God whose never going to leave us nor forsake us!