Challenge #59 - Glory to God/Anything Goes

NOTE:  Please scroll down to the previous post to pay tribute to our Design Team Member, Paula Pike, who went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, yesterday morning.

This week we celebrate Christmas, which is a time for Christians to celebrate the fulfillment of Old Testament phrophecy that promised the Messiah - the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords - the true Savior of the world.  Isaiah 9:6 says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."  This prophecy was fulfilled completely in the birth of the Lord, Jesus Christ as told in the Gospels of the New Testament, and it's quite sad to think that some religions are still waiting for the arrival of the Messiah.  He is already here!  He now sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and has paid the ultimate price for our sins, and has gone to prepare a place for us in Heaven if we place our faith in Him.  We don't celebrate the baby.  We celebrate His coming - the fulfillment of prophecy, and we praise God for sending His son as a sacrifice to make a way for mankind to get to Heaven.  He truly is Wonderful, a Counsellor, a mighty God, He's the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.  We hope that you know Him in this way, and celebrate Him for the awesome God He truly is.

Our scripture/word art for this week is Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."  God's Word is filled with promises, but these promises always come with a command.  The fulfillment of prophecy (the promise of the Messiah) came with a price that Jesus paid on the cross.  Like all of God's promises, this verse comes with a command. We are told to give glory to God; for He is the highest (above all names), and then.....the promise - He will give peace on earth and show His good will toward men."  Many people right now are wondering why the tragedy occurred on Friday in Connecticut, and they ask..."where was God?"  But, the truth is that God wants SO MUCH to bless our nation.  But first we must, as a nation, acknowledge Him as the One true God and give Him the glory due His holy name, and then in return, He promises to give peace on earth and good will toward men.  Until and unless our nation turns to God, tragedies will continue to occur because of sin.  This is just more evidence of why we need to be a Christian nation - a nation that trusts God, acknowledges Him as the Most High, and He will give us peace on earth and show good will toward men.  While none of us can control the actions of our nation, we can control our own actions.  We each need to give God His rightful place of honor and glory, and in doing so, others will see God in us; and hopefully, turn their hearts back to God so that He can bless us as a nation.  The first chapter of the Book of Psalms tells us quite clearly that God's people will delight in in his law and be rewarded, but that those who reject Him will simply not recieve His blessings, and will perish.  This isn't "me" being harsh - this is God's Word, and the choice is ours.  We have MUCH praying to do - both in our own lives, and for our nation as a whole.  God wants to bless us, but His promises always come with a command.  We encourage you to read His Word, hide it in your heart, live it in your daily lives, and let the world see it in you so that He can bless your life with His exceeding goodness.  And hopefully, our nation will turn back to God and be blessed.   That is our prayer; at Christmas and ALWAYS.

 

As always, feel free to save our free weekly word art/scripture to your computer. You are welcome to copy this scripture to your computer and use it in your entry, but you are never required to do so. As long as you use an encouraging or uplifting sentiment on your project, that is fine. We just want God's Word to be a blessing to you.  You can also link more than one project each week (up to 5). The more, the merrier. We just hope that God's Word will be a blessing and encouragement to you each week. If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules under our page tab for "Challenge Rules".

Here is this week's free scripture/word art.  We hope you enjoy it!

 

Our awesome sponsor this week is:

Diane Noble of Daydream Designs is offering

a $20 Gift Certificate to one lucky winner!

Now that's a prize worth playing for.....thanks, Diane!

 

Our lucky winners from last week's Challenge #58 are

Entry #34 - Susie

She has won this:

Jacque at Detailed 4U Collections has a gift certificate for you!

 

AND.....

The lucky winner of two Stampin' Up Stamp Sets from

Cynthia Millan from Stampin' Up is

Lucky Entry #20 - Lisa D.

A HUGE THANKS to all our generous sponsors!

And now, here is a bit of inspiration from our Design Team

 

Stephanie Wright, Our December Guest Designer

Using Daydream Designs Deck the Halls Images

 

 

Gemiel Matthews

Using images from Daydream Designs Little Bits of Christmas

 

 

 

Wendy Swenne

Using images from Daydream Designs Little Bits of Christmas

 

 

JoAnn Atterbury

Using Daydream Designs Owl Always Love You Images

 

 

 

Diane Noble

Using Daydream Designs Little Bits of Christmas Image

 

 

 

Karen Letchworth

Using images from Daydream Designs Little Bits of Christmas