A wonderful day, everyone! A week ago, we started another bi-weekly Anything Goes/Inspirational Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW). You still have another week to join the fun and possibly win a great prize. As always, I featured a card below with our Scripture Word Art that comes from Psalm 139:23-24 that says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Wow, these verses demonstrates to us a wonderful song of humility and surrender to the Lord who created us. It also acknowledges that we are incapable of living holy lives without His presence. But in the same chapter of Psalm 139 in verses 19-22, King David expressed hatred and anger for the wicked who hated God and misused His name. Are we supposed to hate our enemies? After all, God regarded David as a man after His own heart! How do we reconcile this? As a New Testament believer (Born-again, John 3:3), Jesus clearly told us in Matthew 5:43-45, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that
you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on
the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous."
The truth is, both Old and New Testament believers were/are prone to adversity. The enemy uses evil men, even the one closest to us to betray and/or harm us. Our advantage as New Testament saints is the fact that we have the written and personal revelation of God---the fullness of God's Word in Jesus Christ! The closer we are to God (through study and obedience to His Word), the more we hate Sin. We are angry because it separates people from God, influences others to follow the path of rebellion and destruction, causes suffering to many, and ultimately---eternal damnation for all that rejected Christ. The Lord knows my deepest thoughts to them that mocked Jesus and it is pointless to keep anything from Him. I want justice more than ever but also praying that many of these evil men would repent and find God's mercy before it's too late. So be it personal, social or global concern, I'd rather bring all my cares to His attention and let Him take charge. After all, God is totally in control and His divine plan could not be thwarted! I would like to impart what My Life Application Bible shared about our highlighted verses in this post. It said, "David's hatred for his enemies came from his zeal for God. David regarded his enemies as God's enemies, so his hatred was a desire for God's righteous justice and not for personal vengeance. It is all right to be angry at people who hate God? Yes, but we must remember that it is God who will deal with them, not us. If we truly love God, then we will be deeply hurt if someone hates Him. David asked God to search his heart and mind and point out any wrong motives that may have been behind his strong words. But while we seek justice against evil, we must also pray that God's enemies will turn to Him before He judges them (See Matthew 5:44). David asked God to search for sin and point it out, even to the level of testing his thoughts. This is exploratory surgery for sin. How are we to recognize sin unless God points it out? Then, when God shows us, we can repent and be forgiven. Make our highlighted verse your prayer. If you ask the Lord to search your heart and your thoughts and to reveal your sin, you will be continuing on God's "way everlasting."
For this Card, I used an image from Stampendous called "Head Shots" that I colored using my Ohuhu markers, The base is white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square with rounded corners. The DP's are from My Mind's Eye Bramble Rose Set, the layered flowers from Prima, a small brad from Recollections and the leaves were die-cut with Fiskars punch. I also added glitters from Stickles (Crystal), a washi tape from Paper Studio and machine stitched all over this project. I absolutely love it!
IN THE WAY EVERLASTING CARD
IN THE WAY EVERLASTING CARD LAYERS
IN THE WAY EVERLASTING CARD INSIDE
IN THE WAY EVERLASTING CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX
Ellibelle's Corner---ATG
Simon Says Stamp---ATG
Digi Choosday---ATG
Try Stampin' on Tuesday---Technique, Layering or Both
A Place to Start---ATG
Get Creative---Something New (Image is new)
Jan's Digi Stamps---ATG
PIP---ATG
Simon Says---Beautiful Blooms
Stamp & Fun---ATG
Corrosive---ATG
Stamping Sensations---Add Some Sparkle
Lil' Patch of Crafty---ATG
Gem of a Challenge---ATG
Crafty Calendar---Add a Sentiment
Dis Digis---Make It Sparkle
Taylormade---ATG/Valentine/Love
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 each week. Our Challenge winner will be awarded a wonderful prize from our awesome
sponsor---Avery Elle Designs
($15 GC).
So excited to see what you come up with. Anyway, as believers of Jesus
Christ, freed from the bondage of Sin through faith in Jesus,
let us continue to share the gift of salvation to them who are lost while allowing God to sanctify us fully in the image and likeness of our Savior.
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