Scripture Series: A Father Unto You Card---Join our for Another Inspirational/Anything Goes Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

Hello Crafty Peeps!  I know I am super duper delayed in posting this Card I made for our Word Art Wednesday Challenge (WAW) that started several days ago.  As always, it's Anything Goes and must be inspirational.  In this Challenge, you can download for free the Scripture Word Art that I used in my project by going to the WAW site.  The verse comes from 2 Corinthians 6:18 that says, "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

Like any other verse in the Bible, we cannot just read this verse and ignore the context of the entire book/chapter from which it comes from in our quest to fully understand the true meaning of this passage.  Often times, we missed the entire point and expect God's blessings when we fail to understand what God is truly saying.  God sets up Natural and Spiritual laws that provide blessings to those who obey His statutes and curse to those who chose to rebel.  One of them is the Law of Sowing and Reaping.  Gotquestions.org has a wonderful explanation that is worth sharing about this topic.  It says, " Most of the Bible was originally written to those living in an agrarian society, people familiar with working the land, managing livestock, and raising crops. Many of Jesus’ parables involve the farming life. Not surprisingly, then, the Bible contains many references to sowing and reaping, and here are some of the principles we learn:  Sowing and reaping is a law of the natural world. On the third day of creation, God commanded the earth to bring forth living plants “bearing seed” and fruit “with seed in it” (Genesis 1:12). These plants were then given to man for food (verse 29). Ever since the beginning, man has understood the process of sowing and reaping and has applied it to his benefit.  God uses the law of sowing and reaping to bestow His blessing. God’s blessing comes generally to the whole world as He sends sun and rain to the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). In some cases His blessing comes more specially to those of His choosing, such as Isaac. Genesis 26:12 says that Isaac sowed a crop and received a hundredfold in one season because the Lord targeted him for blessing.  God warned Israel that, if they forsook Him and pursued idols, the law of sowing and reaping would be suspended and their crops would fail (Leviticus 26:16b). This happened to disobedient Judah on a couple occasions (Jeremiah 12:13; Micah 6:15). Sowing and reaping is also a law of the spiritual world. It is more than just an agricultural principle. It is an axiom of life that we reap what we sow. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” There are natural consequences to our actions. The world operates under the law of cause and effect. There is no way around it: every time we choose an action, we also choose the consequences of that action. We reap in kind to what we sow. Those who plant apple seeds should expect to harvest apples. Those who sow anger should expect to receive what anger naturally produces. Galatians 6:8 says, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Living a life of carnality and sin and expecting to inherit heaven is akin to planting cockle burrs and waiting for roses. This principle works both positively and negatively. “The one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward” (Proverbs 11:18b), but “whoever sows injustice reaps calamity” (Proverbs 22:8a)."

Our highlighted verse at the very beginning of this post is one of those promises of God to those who would not compromise their faith in Christ for a sinful lifestyle through worldly practices/relationships.  Quoting from my Life Application Bible, "Separation from the world involves more than keeping our distance from sinful practices.  It means staying close to God.  It involves more than avoiding entertainment that leads to sin; It extends into how we spend our time and money.  There is no way to separate ourselves totally from all sinful influences.  Nevertheless, we are to resist the sin around us, without either giving up or giving in.  When you know what God wants you to do, make a clean break with sinful practices."  For we are either blessed or corrupted by anyone/anything we associate ourselves with.  As a child of the Most High God, we are to live the high calling that God called us as the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ.  When we repented of our sin and surrendered ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, God equipped us with His supernatural power by the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit to conquer the spiritual forces of darkness that tries to take us down daily.  At no point does He leave us alone in our walk with Him.  We are to listen, discern, pray and act in accordance to the will and purpose of the King we pledged allegiance to---Jesus Christ!  This is only possible if we are adept with God's Word through committed study for understanding and correct application.  Things that we have studied, proven and are sure about, we don't compromise!  Though many fall daily into deception, sad to say that many of them profess to be "Christian leaders" from well-known mega churches, we don't follow the trend/culture of this world that caters to humanism and moral relativism and rejects the infallible, unchanging, eternal Word of God.  When we truly adhere to the Truth of God and His Word, we would never escape persecution from the worldly people, ungodly system and evil agenda of our time.  If you are loved by the world, you need to evaluate whether you are still in the faith.  That's how serious we are to be in being the Salt and Light of this world (Matthew 5:13-16).  

So, what kind of seed are you planting today?  Are you sowing seeds of righteousness in Christ which yields an incorruptible harvest in the eternal or are you planting seeds of rebellion and earthly pleasures that is temporary and carries out a harvest of eternal damnation?  Since I am a daughter of the Most High God, I will carry out my Father's Will (no matter what the cost) for an eternal life and joy in the presence of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Want to share the following verses to ponder on in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 which says, "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

For this Card, I used an image from C.C. Designs called "Allys" and watercolored it using my Kimberley Watercolor Pencils.  The base is a Kraft CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card.  The DP's are from Paper Studio, the layered flowers from Prima and Recollections, the brad from Recollections and jute from my stash.  I also added some glitters (Stickles-Crystal) and some regular and fancy stitching.

 A FATHER UNTO YOU CARD

 A FATHER UNTO YOU CARD LAYERS

 A FATHER UNTO YOU CARD INSIDE

A FATHER UNTO YOU CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

A Perfect Time to Craft---ATG
Classic DT---ATG
Crafts Galore Encore---ATG
Craftyhazelnut's---Patterned Paper
Color Create Show It Off---ATG
Creative Craft Cottage---ATG
Digi Doodle---Special Day (Father's Day)
Happy Craft---ATG
Happy Little Stampers---Watercolor/Love
LeAnn's World---ATG
Let's Craft and Create---ATG/You're the Man
Love to Scrap---No Rulz
Morgan's Artworld---ATG
Papercraft---ATG
Sognando---A Time For You
Sweet Stampers---ATG
YSP---Welcome Summer


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.  Great prizes to be won from our wonderful sponsor, The Project Bin ($15 GC).  So excited to see what you come up with.  Anyway, cheer up and let the peace of the Lord overtake you today.  In Christ, we have a very bright and joyful future forever!

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Fun/Humor Series: Bowler Babes Birthday Center Step Card---Join Us at 613 Avenue Create for our Anything Goes/June Challenge!

Hello everyone...I'm here to feature my card for our 613 Avenue Create Anything Goes, June Challenge.  I took on the optional twist which is "More Than One Fold" with this center step card design.  I've had this fun stamps for a while but it's only now, I am able to use them. I love it!

Anyway, I've been away from the Blogging world for more than two weeks.  There's always a lot of things to do than what I have time for.  The story of my life... But making cards is not just a hobby for me but a ministry. Through creativity, I can share God's Word and shed a light to the issues of our day and apply God's Truth at this crucial time.   Though I thought of taking a break several times, I knew it was not up to me.  For as long as the Spirit of the Lord is leading me to tell of His Word, I will continue to obey.

So, I just got done with our Bible class on the topic of Church vs. Culture where we looked into the politics that affected both the Old and the New Testaments.  The argument that Christians are supposed to stay away from political issues is a blatant lie.  Just go to 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles and you'll find out how politics affected the plight of believers throughout the Bible and how God used it to fulfill His purpose.   There's so many things to share but I'll concentrate on one topic this time and that is GLOBALISM.  Do you know that the original Globalist is Satan?  Matthew 4:8 tells us of the third temptation Satan used on Jesus which says, "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Here, Satan was tempting Jesus to receive authority of the kingdoms of this world (which Satan originally got from Adam when Man fell into Sin) in exchange for Jesus worshiping him.  But we know what happened. Jesus put him in his place by invoking the Word of God.   Genesis 11:1-9 tells us that God had to deal with man's efforts towards globalization when they proceeded in building the Tower of Babel.  This is a direct rebellion against what God told them to do.  Gotquestions.org explains, " The Tower of Babel is described in Genesis 11:1-9. After the Flood, God commanded humanity to "increase in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1). Humanity decided to do the exact opposite, “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth’” (Genesis 11:4). Humanity decided to build a great city and all congregate there. They decided to build a gigantic tower as a symbol of their power, to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). This tower is remembered as the Tower of Babel. In response, God confused the languages of humanity so that they could no longer communicate with each other (Genesis 11:7). The result was that people congregated with other people who spoke the same language, and then went together and settled in other parts of the world (Genesis 11:8-9). God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel to enforce His command for humanity to spread throughout the entire world.  In Genesis 17:4-7, God spoke to Abram and said, “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." 

Just by looking at several verses in Genesis, we can see that God's purpose is to  have nations of people with different background, ethnicity and language.  The account of Apostle John in what he saw in heaven in Revelation 7:9-10 supports this conclusion when it said, "After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"  You see, when it comes to free trade, communication, travel and international treaties, a Global network is an advantage.  But anything other than that such as one world government, religion, currency and nation which infringes on national sovereignty are man's effort to rebuild the Tower of Babel that God surely despised.  Without studying the Word of God, global oneness may sound appealing but such is the work of Satan---to appeal to deceive.  Let us arm ourselves with the Truth by aligning our thoughts with God's Word.  There's so much more I can share from my Bible class but I'll have to do it here in installments.  Know that it's not my desire that you just depend on the info I'm sharing here.  If anything, I want you to expand your study and see for yourself what God's Word says about the issues of our day.  If in anyway this post blessed you, please let me know in the comments too.   

For this Card, I used an image from Art Impressions Stamps called "Spare Me" and watercolored using Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  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 layered flowers from Prima and the brads from Recollections.  I also added some glitters from Stickles (Crystal), some white nail head gems from Imaginisce and regular and fancy stitching.  I love the fun and rustic look that this card exudes. 

 BOWLER BABES BIRTHDAY CENTER STEP CARD

 BOWLER BABES BIRTHDAY CENTER STEP CARD LAYERS

 BOWLER BABES BIRTHDAY CENTER STEP CARD SIDE VIEW

 BOWLER BABES BIRTHDAY CENTER STEP CARD INSIDE

BOWLER BABES BIRTHDAY CENTER STEP CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

A Perfect Time to Craft---ATG
Classic DT---ATG
Crafts Galore Encore---ATG
Craftyhazelnut's---Patterned Paper
Color Create Show It Off---ATG
Digi Doodle---Special Day (Birthday)
DL Art---ATG
Happy Craft---ATG
Happy Little Stampers---Watercolor/Love
LeAnn's World---ATG
Love to Scrap---No Rulz
Scor-pal---More than One Score/Warmer days
Morgan's Artworld---ATG
Papercraft---ATG
Sognando---A Time For You
Tales from the Craft Room---Let's Hear it for the Boys
YSP---Welcome Summer


This is it for now, guys.  Make sure to join us at our neighborhood---613 Avenue Create---for an Anything Goes Challenge with optional theme, "More than One Fold."  If you want to be challenged more, take on our Optional Twist.  But there's really no reason for you to miss it. Can't wait to see what you create.  Anyway, the works of the enemy is apparent in our day and time and just like Jesus, we are to use the Word of God to battle with the works of the enemy.  We are to study and arm ourselves with the Truth in order to discern the works of Satan and act with wisdom and power.

Ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Find out how on the sidebar...