Fear Not, O Land

It's time for another Word Art Wednesday challenge. This week's focus verse is Joel 2:21, "Fear not, O Land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things." When we look at the background of this week's verse, we find that it was written during a time when the nation of Israel had taken steps to turn back to the Lord. The results was that Joel was able to tell them that instead of living with fear, they could have joy and gladness because the Lord was going to do great things for them. That is the way it always is for followers of the Lord. When we follow His clear teaching in the Bible and obey His leading, we will experience His blessing in our lives. In our world today, people in general are abandoning Biblical principles in favor of what is culturally or politically acceptable. This is the broad path that the Bible says leads to destruction. This makes it even more important for those who call themselves Christians to stand up for what is right and follow what the Bible teaches. God's Word is the final authority for life and practice.

This does not give us an excuse to be unkind or deliberately antagonistic. The Bible says we were to speak the truth in love. We may disagree, but that does not mean God's command to love others does not still apply. Just like a light in the window on a dark night draws the traveler home, we should live so that others are drawn to the Light we are showing, So, Christian, be loving but unwavering when it comes to standing up for truth and righteousness. God will bless you for it.

Deedee's Digis is one of our sponsors this week. I chose to use the image from a brand new set, Morning Window, on my card today.  The sentiment was die cut and matted with oval dies and then backed with a Fancy Tags 3 die.  I like to cut this die cut in half and use it behind oval diecuts for a little special touch. The background panel was embossed with an embossing folder. Lots of pearls, some ribbon, faux stitching and a scalloped border finish off the card front.

I colored the image with Copics. A white gel pen adds some details to the curtains and a clear Wink of Stella pen adds shimmer to the sun. A glaze pen adds some shine to the "coffee" in the cup. The image was trimmed out with my paper trimmer and matted with a Spellbinders' Rectangle die.

The image panel was popped up over the pearl Flourishes. The finished card is 5"x7".

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (for image), Recollections (cream), Paper Reflections (blue)
Patterned Paper: American Crafts (Hip Hip Hooray 6x6 pad)
Stamps: WORDart by Karen (Joel 2:21); Deedee's Digis (Morning Window)
Copics: Table/Bible (E000, 00, 01, 07, 31, 33, 35, 37, 40, 50; N5), Grass (G03, 07, 09, 17), Curtains (R81, 83, 85), Chair (B21, 23, 26), Woodwork/frame (E29, 35, 37), Sun (Y11, 13, 15), Cup (Y000, 11, 13; E31, 25), Sky (B000)
Tools/Embellishments: Sakura Glaze Pen, Uniball Signo white gel pen, Zig Wink of Stella brush marker (clear), Want2Scrap pearls and pearl flourish, My Favorite Things Die-Namics (Mini Scallop Edge), Spellbinders dies (Petite Ovals Large and Small, Classic Rectangle large, Fancy Tags 3), Cuttlebug embossing folder (Honeycomb)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion Challenge #268 - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Take Your Pick (I'm using the Product theme: pearls and the Color Theme of Pink)
Digi Chooseday Week #26 - Embossing
Outlawz Monday Greetings Challenge - Anything Goes
Mod Squad Challenge - Patterned Paper
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use Spots or Dots

Thanks for visiting with me today. I hope you'll come back often.  There is a lot more inspiration on the Word Art Wednesday blog and a free digi there for you as well.