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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