THE BLESSINGS OF CREATIVITY...

I thank the LORD JESUS for each day that is given me to create wonderful projects...As always, I give Him all the glory.


Monday, November 25, 2019

Scripture Series: Bountifully Unto Him Card---Join our Inspirational/Anything Goes Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

Hi everyone!  Happy Thanksgiving week to all of you here in the Blogging world.  So sorry for another late post. Last Wednesday, we started another bi-weekly Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW).  As always, you can join us with an inspirational project or use our Scripture Word Art (you can download for free at the WAW site) and let it inspire you to create---just like I did in the card sample below.  Our Scripture Word Art for this Challenge comes from Psalm 100:4 which says, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name."

There's so many things to be grateful about in this life.  First, we need to acknowledge that we are in this world because God created us in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).  Unlike His other creation which demonstrates His power for when He spoke, they came to be, He formed mankind with His own hands and He breathe unto us (from the inside of Him) the breath of life.  That breath is filled with life and everything that is good.  But we know what happened when Adam formed an alliance with the devil when he disobeyed God.  The pure and holy life that God gave us became  contaminated with Sin which brings forth death.  But Jesus came to save and redeem us from our bondage with Satan and brought us back to the glorious presence of our Creator.  This is true for everyone that placed their faith (Born-Again, John 3:3) in God's One and Only appointed Savior---Jesus Christ!  And though we live in this fallen world with people who are steep in their rebellion of God, we are under the care and protection of our Father who gave us a task of sharing the Gospel (death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ) to anyone willing to listen so that they too can be saved from eternal death (eternal separation from God) where everything good does not exist.  A place of constant torment for Satan and everyone that followed his ways. 

Believers in the Lord Jesus are not spared from the everyday trials of this life for in going through them, we are learning to rule over our own selfish nature and to completely rely in the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to do the things Our Father in heaven purposed us to do. When we yield to God's Word, He changes us from within till we are conformed to the image of our Savior.  On our own efforts, we would be powerless!  So, this season of Thanksgiving here in America, we have to remember the wonderful things that God accomplished in our lives---both in trials and blessings.  Things that we often forget to be thankful for like---every breath, each waking moment, health and functioning body, sound mind, we need to give thanks!  Even in times of testing, when we take the focus off ourselves and look at things from a different angle, you'll find that there's still more things to be grateful about each day.  For even in our last breath, believers who put God first in this lifetime have eternal life in the arms of the Lord. No words could ever describe how glorious that day would be for us that love God when we finally see things the way God sees it.  In Christ, we never lose! So, every time I meet up with other believers to corporately worship and sing praises for the Lord, I am eagerly excited to sing, dance, jump, shout with all my might because I always have in me His very presence---a testimony of His goodness that no trial or suffering can ever take away. Others may perceive that my life is pretty easy and I am glad that's what they see.  In reality, I have many concerns but I don't let them dictate my worship.  Why should I  when I know that when I entrust everything to the Lord, He takes care of my every need.  That gives me peace, joy and confidence no matter what.  

Anyway, I would like to share what  my Life  Application Bible  shared  with regards to  our highlighted verse and Psalm 100 in general.  It says, "David tells us to acknowledge that the Lord is God!  How can we do that?  We acknowledge Him when we shout our praises, appreciate His status  as  our Creator, accept His authority in every detail of life, enthusiastically agree with the guidance He gives us, and express our thanks for His unfailing love.  God is our Creator; we did not create ourselves.  Many people live as though they are the creator and center of their own little world.  This mindset leads to pride, greed, idolatry, and if everything should be taken away, a loss  of hope itself.  But when we realize that God created us and gives us all we have, we will want to give to others as God gave to us (2 Corinthians 9:8).  Then, if all is lost,  we still have God and all He gives us.  God alone is worthy of  being worshiped.  What is your attitude toward worship?  Do you willingly and joyfully come into God's presence, or are you just going through the motions, reluctantly going to Church? Psalm 100 tells us to remember God's goodness and dependability, and then to worship with thanksgiving and praise!

For this Card, I used Heidi Grace Die Cuts to decorate and printed our Scripture Word Art on it.  The base is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 4.5 x 7 inches card.  I also added some Imaginisce nail head gems and some stitching.  I also have to make an envelope using a DP from Paper Studio.  I really wanted a quick card so, I'm glad I was able to accomplish it and it looks fab. 


 BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM CARD


 BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM CARD INSIDE


BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM CARD WITH ENVELOPE


This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Lil' Patch of Crafty---ATG


Hope you enjoyed my featured project today at WAW...I am looking forward to see your projects linked to our Challenge.  You can include the free Word Art in your projects to link,  but not a requirement.  You can submit any inspirational, uplifting, family friendly creations (up to 5 each week) for more chances to win our prize from our sponsor this week---Avery Elle ($25 GC). Okay guys, let us remember to count all our blessings and give glory to the Lord always in season and out of season. He is worthy to be praised!  I would like to share the video I took of our Praise and Worship at Church last Sunday and so grateful to the Lord that I was one of the ministers He used to escort people to His presence.  All glory to His Name.




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Monday, November 11, 2019

Scripture Series: Bountifully with Me Card---Join Us for Another Anything Goes Challenge at Word Art Wednesday!

Hi, Crafty Peeps!  I was on a bit of break from the Blogging world as I go through the busy months.  I'm part of a group in my Church that create crafts to sell so we can provide boots for orphans overseas and blessings to a nursing home in our city.  I am grateful to the Lord for allowing me to be part of every project as we use the talents God has given us to serve others.  These days, I crochet more so, I have a lot of projects to share that I hope I can feature here soon in spite of the hectic sched.  Today, I am sharing the card I made a few days ago for our Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW).  As always, we feature as Scripture Word Art (you can download free at the WAW site) that you can use for your projects and you can also link to our Challenge for a chance to win some wonderful prizes from our sponsor.  Our text comes from Psalm 13:6 which says, "I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me."

If we read the six verses in Psalm 13, we will understand better the meaning of our text today.  David trusted God wholeheartedly even from before the time he faced Goliath, to the time He became a king and even to the time he repented from all the sins he committed in secret, we read of his intimate relationship with our Creator.  During his reign, there were many wars the people of God had to face and in those moments of trials and uncertainties, they needed to patiently wait on the Lord and trust that He heard and would come through for them.  Oftentimes, we start trusting God but as the pressure of our problems starts to pile up, we begin to doubt if God will ever come to our rescue.  Our invited preacher in the Church yesterday gave us a wonderful truth to meditate on in which he said, "The greater the trial/testing, the better the product!" When we buy things whether it be for necessity or luxury, we always get feedback/reviews from others who tried the product.  We don't foolishly buy a product costing thousands of dollars based on one person's review.  The more reviews we get, the confident we are to trust its quality.  But we can argue that products don't have feelings/emotions like us human beings. True, but these earthly products neither have soul (mind, will and emotions) nor a spirit (conscience, intuition, communion), unlike us human beings that were created in the image and likeness of our Maker.  God gave us the free-will to choose to trust or not to trust, to hold on or to give in/up, to choose to love Him or continue to rebel against Him.  Each of the trials He allows in our lives is designed to test our faith, strength and our character.  When we come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (John 3:3, Born-Again), He placed inside of us his Holy Spirit.  I love what Gotquestions.org shared about this topic which tells us, "Once we are saved and belong to God, the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts forever, sealing us with the confirming, certifying, and assuring pledge of our eternal state as His children. Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (John 14:16). The Greek word translated here “Counselor” means “one who is called alongside” and has the idea of someone who encourages and exhorts. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 12:13). Jesus gave the Spirit as a “compensation” for His absence, to perform the functions toward us which He would have done if He had remained personally with us."  (Read more about this HERE)

I submit to you that everything Jesus Christ did in his ministry are not impossible for us to do because we literally have His presence inside of us directing us to fulfill the purpose He prepared for us to accomplish in this world.  When we allowed Him to rule and reign and use us as vessels---a "living sacrifice" for whatever use He may assign us to, we gave Him full authority over our body, soul and spirit.  A dead sacrifice couldn't make anymore decisions for it lost its ability to function.  Yet, we are called to be a "living sacrifice" which still has the ability to choose but willingly chooses the things of God over our own selfish desires.  And I'm fully aware, this is not easy!  Without the presence of God inside of us, this is not possible.  The Sin Nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve at the Fall of Man places us on the default setting of rebelling against God.  Unless we die from that fallen state by being born-again through the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ while here on earth, there is no hope for salvation anywhere else.

So for us who surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ, are we spared from the reality of intense trial and suffering?  Of course not!  In fact, we would go through a hardcore test of obedience, patience, trust/reliance upon the promises of God to determine the quality of our service.  God answers to His Word and we need to etched and keep His promises inside our hearts for it is also our weapon against the fiery darts of the enemy.  Every trial we overcome through the power of  the Cross  and the Word of God makes us strong and causes us to be steadfast in our walk with God.  Always remember, God is not in the business of satisfying our emotions.  His concern is in the development of our character!  So, whether we like it or not, testing would follow us anywhere we go but instead of thinking of it negatively, think of it as another step to witness the power of God exclusively working in us.  As we see the mighty hand of the Lord in our circumstances, our common response is that of singing, dancing and rejoicing for we serve the One and Only true God who is faithful forever and has done wonderful things in our lives!  Glory be to God.

Just a side note, let us all unite together TO PRAY for our POTUS, Donald Trump, who is viciously being attacked by the Satanic, Socialist, Communist and Globalists minions aided by the Fake News and Social Media seeking to remove him from office to undermine the 2016 decision of God and freedom-loving Americans.  My confidence is in the Lord and that He is in control as He protects His chosen leader from the wiles of the enemy that never cease to destroy the Godly heritage of our nation.  Join me in invoking and declaring the work of the Lord in this nation as no weapon formed against this country shall prosper, in Jesus' Name!  PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

For this  Card, I used an image from Art Impressions called "Perfect Duet Set" that I colored using my Prismacolor and Hobby Colour markers.  The base is white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card.  I used some Washi Tape from Recollections layered some flowers from Prima and attached a brad and butterflies, both from Recollections as well.  I also punched some leaves using Fiskars punch. used some Liquid Pearls (Platinum Pearl) and some glitters from Stickles (Crystal).  Lastly, I stitched all over this card.


 BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME CARD


 BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME CARD LAYERS


 BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME CARD INSIDE


BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX


This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

Gem of a Challenge---ATG
Catch the Bug---Thankful
Crafter's Castle---ATG
Crafty Friends---ATG
Addicted to Stamps---ATG
Dare 2B Artzy---Be Thankful
Lil' Patch---ATG
Corrosive---ATG
Get Creative---ATG/Holidays
Jan's Digi---ATG
PIP---ATG
Perfect Time to Craft---ATG
Classic DT---ATG
Country View---Handstamped
Craft-Dee---ATG
Crafts Galore Encore---ATG
Le Ann's---ATG
Let's Craft and Create---ATG/Thank you
Love to Craft---ATG
Love to Scrap---ATG
MIU---ATG/Watercoloring
Morgan's Artworld---ATG
Not Just Cards---ATG
YSP---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 submit up to 5 entries per week.  Our wonderful sponsor for this week is  The Project Bin giving away a $15 GC. So excited to see what you come up with.  Anyway, cheer up and let the Spirit of the Lord inspire and lead you today. God will turn your impossibilities to possibilities as you place your complete trust in Him.

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