Fun With Friends

This is another card that I made using my "new favorite" paper pad. I say it in quotations, because my favorites change quickly based upon discoveries of new paper. I like this paper pad because of the richness of colors and the earthiness of it. I also like it that most of the papers are textured. That being said the Designer Paper is from the DCWV Green Stack, which I found at JoAnn Fabrics. I scored a great deal, because it was 40% off, and then I had a 20% of the total purchase price coupon. I've gotten so spoiled by those kind of deals that I won't hardly buy anything at full price any more......unless I absolutely can't live without it (we're talking stamping products of course!). Anyways, I paired the DP with a textured, charcoal grey cardstock and accented with a brick red cardstock. I stamped the image on white PTI Cardstock, which is my absolute favorite. I like how heavy the cardstock is and how crisp the images come out. The stamped image is "Daily Grind" by There She Goes Stamps, and I colored it using my PrismaColor pencils. I still am not the greatest at shading, but I am working at it. I am certainly not a natural, and I need to find an art class to help me with this skill.

I gave the card to my neighbor Thely. She is a dear friend and sister in Christ.

The Mercy & Sovereignty of God

The Scripture that I posted for today comes from Isaiah 55:6-9. In verses 6-7, we see an exhortation to seek the Lord, while there is still time. It is an exhortation for a person to repent of his sins and turn to the Lord for salvation. The promise to the one who will do this, is that the Lord God will hear the cry of the repentant sinner and have compassion upon him and forgive him. It displays God's rich mercy and compassion, but it also displays His justice, holiness and righteousness, for implied within the text is a warning that if you don't turn to Him, you will not receive compassion or pardon. Next, in verses 8-9, we have a warning against trusting our own judment in these matters. Taken within the context, it is a warning against those who would trust their own judgment and thoughts in terms of their eternal destination; however, its application goes far beyond issues of salvation and extends to a person's daily walk with the Lord. We must remember that God does not operate based upon our earthly wisdom but upon His own wisdom and that God's wisdom reaches far beyond ours. His thinking and acting is far superior to ours and is beyond our comprehension. It is our responsibility to trust Him at His word and pray for the faith and understanding to be obedient to it.

Ooops!

Well, I never cease to amaze myself. I was fooling around on my Blogger dashboard and accidently became a member and a follower of my own blog, and I don't know how to remove myself. If any of you knows how to do it, please let me know. I feel like a total goob

Psalm 73:26

This is a card I made just last week using a new stamp and some new designer paper. The stamp is part of the Scripture Series 1 set by Our Daily Bread Designs. I love our Daily Bread Designs, because they have beautiful Scripture sets that are either theme-based sets with illustrations and verses, or they are sets that are exclusively Scripture. The Designer Paper I used is a new paper pack that I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics. It is called the Green Stack and it is put out by DCWV. I absolutely love it. You can get this paper pad in either the 12x12 or the 8x8. I prefer the 8x8 pad, because the print is smaller, which is more suitable for a card. The sunflower accents are actually some pewter buttons that I got on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics. I just took a pair of sturdy wire cutters and clipped the loops off of the backs and then I pasted them on the card using glue dots. Lastly, I used a Spellbinders Labels 16 die for my Scripture verse.

I sent this card to my daughter, Meghan, who has been struggling with her health lately. I sent it in hopes that it would encourage her. The crazy thing was so thick I sent it in a padded envelope, because I was afraid it would get bent up, if I put it in a regular envelope.

A Welcome Return

I am finally back, after a very long break. A lot has happened in the past year, which I hope to eventually put down on this blog. Let's just say that I got distracted. I also wanted to change the look and the format of this blog, which took me awhile to accomplish. Some of my goals for this blog is to share my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with those who do not yet know Him as their personal Lord and Savior, encourage those who already do know Him, through Scripture and personal testimony, and share my love of crafting with others. I have several friends in church, but there is no one close by that shares my love of crafting, and in particular...making cards. The only thing more fun than making a new card is sharing it with someone else. I love sharing new techniques, stamps, papers and ideas with other ladies, and I love talking about the Word of God. So, that's what I hope to do here.

In light of this, I am hoping to regularily post new Scriptures on my blog, offer short challenges from the Word, and post the occasional card. I also hope to add to the list of my favorite Christian books, which are great reading but are never to take the place of Bible reading.

The Scripture I have posted today is from Roman's 8:1 which states, "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". This verse points to the security of the believer in Jesus Christ. In it is the promise that whoever, in faith, entrusts their sole to the Lord Jesus Christ, will escape judgement (condemnation), in the end times, at the judgment seat of Christ. This is the believer's hope and should bring him/her a sense of peace and security.

Isaiah 41:10 Card

Here is a card I made on Sunday. I actually started it on Saturday, but I was so frustrated with it I had to walk away. I considered chucking it all together, but I hated to waste the paper. I came back to it on Sunday and reworked it. Now I am glad that I didn't chuck it, because I like it. The designer paper is called Bella Blue, and it is from Stampin Up. Unfortunately, it is retired paper. The verse stamp is from the Scripture Collection 1 by Our Daily Bread Designs. The decorative squiggles in the corner are from the new Vintage corner dies by Cuttlebug.

Recipe: Stamps: Scripture Collection 1 by Daily Bread Designs. Paper: PTI White, Bella Blue DP by Stampin Up, Close to Cocoa. Ink: Memento Black. Accessories: 7/8" white satin ribbon, cuttlebug vintage corners, dimensionals, fiskars borde punch.

The Discipline of God: Hebrews 12:4-13

Today, I wanted to talk about the discipline of God in a believer's life. Often, when people hear the words "discipline of God", they only think in terms of punishment. It is true, that when a believer is involved in unrepented sin, he will undergo the discipline of God. We see this in 1 Corinthians 11:23-30, where the believers in Corinth were practicing communion in an ungodly manner. Because of this, God allowed some of those believers to become sick, and some of them He took home to be with Him. We also see it in the case of Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5, where they lied to the Holy Spirit and as a consequence they were struck dead by God. And we mustn't forget the familiar Biblical principal from Galations 6:7, which states, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." There is however, another kind of discipline that has nothing to do with any sin in the believer's life. This is the discipline that comes in the form of the various trials and tribulations we encounter in life.

In Hebrews 12:4-13, we see this kind of discipline from the Lord. In this epistle, the Christians were suffering hardships and persecution because of their faith. As a result, some were discouraged, disheartened and confused. The author of Hebrews takes this opportunity to remind them of the purpose of these trials and of the Father's love for them.

In verses 4-13, the author calls the trials "discipline", which is the Greek word paideia referring to the training of a child. It is a broad word that signifies what parents and teachers do in the life of a child to mold them into responsible, mature adults. Sometimes that discipline is rebuke, sometimes it is instruction, and other times it involves allowing the child to suffer hardship. The parent does this out of love for the child and with an eye to his future benefit. In the same way, the Father lovingly brings discipline into our lives through rebuke, instruction and hardship. This discipline often comes in the form of trials, such as financial hardship, sickness & death, social stress, persecutions and etc., all of which are the things that God uses to mold us into His image.

The author further encourages his audience by reminding us, that the "discipline" is proof of God's love and ownership of us For just as a father disciplines his "own" child, so also does the heavenly Father discipline His own. If we never experience the discipline of the Father, we do not belong to Him; instead, we are illegitimate. (Heb. 12:7-8) Knowing this should bring encouragement to our lives.

Lastly, the author encourages us in our trials by reminding us of the fruit that comes from them. He states in verse 11, "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." In this verse, he acknowleges the pain that comes from the trials, but then he encourages us with the revelation that it is those things that work righteousness in our lives. It is the hardships and sufferings that we go through, that mold us more into the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
While the knowledge of this does not remove the sufferings of the trial, it does bring to our souls and minds a steadied peace and joy in the midst of the trials. It is so much easier going through hardships, when you know that it is a loving God that holds you in the midst of them and that there is a wonderful, God glorifying purpose in those sufferings. This is the encouragement that is found in Hebrews 12:4-13.

I hope this passage of Scripture is a blessing and encouragement to you just as it has been to me, as I have walked through the trials/disciplines of life.

God Bless!

Lisa