Anything Goes - Weeks #577-578

Welcome to Word Art Wednesday for our first challenge of 2023.  God has, once again, blessed us with a full calendar of AWESOME generous sponsors.  You can see the complete sponsor calendar on the Sponsor Page so that you'll be sure to join us for a chance to win these amazing prizes.  We praise God for all His amazing provisions for our challenge blog, and that includes all of YOU who play along and share your art with us.  It's always a treat to see your lovely cards and projects linked in our gallery.  We do hope that our devotionals will bless and encourage you and that you'll have FUN creating and sharing your art with us again this year.

Our word art scripture for this challenge is found in Titus 3:5 and it says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.  By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."  The Bible clearly tells us that there is absolutely NOTHING we could ever do that would allow us to "earn" our way into Heaven.  Good works, no matter how good or how many, can EVER get us into Heaven.  It's only by the mercy of our loving God that we can be "saved".  What does it mean to be "saved"?  Saved from what?  Well, we (each and every one of us) are all born sinful.  It's in our nature and our sin is unavoidable.  We are inherently sinful people.  That earns us a place in Hades (Hell) separated from God for all eternity.  No matter how many good things we do, we simply cannot ever do enough to work our way into Heaven.  Even "works of righteousness" that are done in accordance with the perfect laws of God cannot get us into Heaven.  The next part says, "but according to His mercy He saved us".  This tells us that even though we are, by nature, sinful; He was merciful towards us.  God sent a part of Himself...His Son, Jesus Christ, to come and pay the price for our sins.  Because He is sinless, only He could pay our sin debt and provide a way for us to reach God.  That's His beautiful act of mercy towards us.  The final part says, "by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost".  This reminds us that we become a new creature once God has saved us and we've committed our life to Him.  That's regeneration, which is a gift of the Holy Ghost. God left a part of Himself (the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit Comforter) when He ascended to Heaven to prepare a place for us.  We become a new (different/better) person and, with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we become a new creature who desires and strives to be more like Him with every passing day.  As we grow spiritually, we learn that His laws (rules/commands and statutes/way of life) are perfect, helpful and good.  The Holy Ghost fills us, and we begin to grow closer to Him by understanding Him and His ways more clearly.  As we become more like God over time by drawing closer to Him, we grow in our spiritual maturity.  In doing this, He blesses and strengthens us, and....PRAISE GOD, He's preparing a place for us to spend all eternity with Him.  I encourage you, if you're not 100% sure that you're on your way to Heave, this is the perfect day to get it settled.  Don't count on getting to Heaven by "being a good person".  It won't work.  Call on Jesus today and simply tell Him, "I know that you are God, I know I am sinful, I know YOU died to make a way for me, and I desire to lay my sins at your feet and to follow you and trust in You alone the rest of my life and for my eternal security".  He would LOVE to hear from you today; and let me tell you....the rewards are ETERNAL.

As always, you are welcome to save the word art to your computer; but you are never required to use it in order to play along or to win in our challenges.  We welcome you to share all of your art with us; remembering that Anything Goes as long as it's family friendly.  This includes any type of altered or digital art (not just limited to cards).  You may link up to five (5) projects each week for a total of ten (10) entries per two-week challenge.  The more you enter, the more you increase your odds of winning.  It is our desire that God's Word will be a blessing and an encouragement to you as we share it.  If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules found under our Page tab marked "Challenge Rules".  Because our ultimate goal is to honor God, we have no other choice but to delete any entries that do not adhere to our guidelines.   Please know that this doesn't mean we are judging anyone.  We're not.  We are simply attempting to honor God and follow His rules.  Please let us know if you have any questions about anything; and thank you for your understanding and participation.

Check out our AWESOME sponsor for this challenge:

The awesome, unique, groovy and AMAZING

Seth Apter Designs is the sponsor for this challenge.

This crafty store is filled with cool crafting products

such as stamps, stencils, paints, rub-ons, adhesives,

washi tapes, various inks and many other unique

products.  One lucky person will WIN a generous

$25 gift certificate to spend at Seth Apter Designs.

Here's Another Lucky Winner:

Our primary sponsor for the last challenge was

Stamp Simply Clear Stamps.  This awesome

store carries the most amazing stamps, sentiments,

images, die-cuts and so much more.

They're all high-quality products and they

cover EVERY occasion you'll ever need.

One lucky person selected by random draw

has won a $25 gift certificate to Stamp Simply.

Thanks to everyone who entered our challenge.

The lucky winner this time is

Entry #104 - Laurie/Stampin' Up North

AND

Tonic Studios was one of our generous

Blog Hop sponsors.  We now have eight

lucky winners.  Here's the complete list

of all those lucky people who have won.

Their names were randomly drawn from

all those who left comments on each DT

Members' Blog.  Thanks to everyone who

hopped along with us.  We appreciate you.

BLOG HOP WINNERS:

From Natalie Houston's Blog:

Carrie Sherridan

From JoAnn Atterbury's Blog:

Heather Mills

From Christine Miller's Blog:

Kathy Asper

From Ginny Maxam's Blog:

Pamela Duncan

From Gail Scott's Blog:

Allisa Steinlicht

From Cynthia Olheiser's Blog:

Gloria Shirr

From Esther Asbury's Blog:

Bunny Vance

From Karen Letchworth's Blog:

Denise Bryant

Our Top 3 Honors Go to Our Friends:

Entry #14 - Pauline C.

Entry #67 - Yvonne

Entry #101 - Francesca

Please email Karen if you'd like a

Top 3 or Winner's Badge for your blog.

All winners must also email Karen

to claim prize (per the Rules Page).  Thanks!

May God bless all our AWESOME sponsors.

We appreciate them all SO very much.  We

pray for them, and for God's hand of blessing

upon their businesses.  We're SO grateful.

Here's Some Inspiration to get You Started:

Our January Guest Designer, Kathy Asper

Cynthia Olheiser

Jo Ann Atterbury

Natalie Houston

Christine Miller

Ginny Maxam

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter