Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Anything Goes - Weeks #579-580

Hello, everyone.  Welcome back to Word Art Wednesday for another FUN and fabulous challenge.  We're always delighted to have you stop by to play along with us.  We've got a beautiful new scripture file for you, a brief encouraging devotional, a winner, a wonderful sponsor/prize, some inspiration, and lots of FUN awaiting.  Let's get started with our new challenge.

The scripture used to create our word art is Psalm 139:23-24 and it 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".  This is a great verse to SAY out loud to God on a regular basis.  I try to do it often because it reminds me (and humbles me) that no matter how "good" I think I'm doing, that my heart is still sinful, and that I still need to remember that God sees straight through to my sinful heart.  Even though we may be doing well by the world's measure, and we may be doing well in comparison to (some) others; it's never good enough.  There's always something on which we can improve, and it's a good thing to remind ourselves that we need to always be striving to become more like God.  The more we repeat this verse to God, the more He will help us to recognize the specific things in our lives that we can work on and do even better.  It's sometimes easy to become complacent in our Christian walk and to start thinking that we're "doing good enough".  That's simply NOT the case.  We can't measure our obedience by the world's standards.  We must measure ourselves by God's standards; which are perfect. We can always keep growing in our faith, improving in our behaviors, and always keep striving to become more like Christ.  When we ask God to truly "search our hearts and show us any wicked way in us", He will always help us to keep growing in our faith and helping us to become more like Him.  This will allow us to be a better example to others and to help point others to Him. It will also bring us great joy and peace. I hope you will try saying this verse out loud to God often.  It also reminds the enemy (Satan) that we want to be more like Jesus.  And that, my friends, is ALWAYS a good thing.

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 WONDERFUL, popular and much-loved
Avery Elle Designs is our sponsor for this challenge.
This FAB store is filled with creative stamps, dies,
watercolors, storage options, inks and SO much more.
One lucky participant will WIN a generous
$15 gift certificate to spend at Avery Elle.


And Now....Another Lucky Winner:
The awesome, unique, groovy and AMAZING
Seth Apter Designs sponsored our last challenge.
This crafty store is filled with cool crafting mediums
such as stamps, stencils, paints, rub-ons, adhesives,
washi tapes, various inks and many other unique
products.  One lucky person has won a generous
$25 gift certificate to spend at Seth Apter Designs.
It's Lucky Entry #57 - Esther Asbury


Our Top 3 Honors Go to Our Friends:
Entry #91 - Priya

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
Kathy has THREE gorgeous card samples
to share.  You can see them all on her blog.





You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

2 comments:

jordanbev5@yahoo.com said...

Great verse and congratulations Esther!! Love your work!

Wendy said...

Lovely design team samples. Thanks for the challenge and chance to win a great prize.