Prayer For Others

 

(James 5:16) There is a great deal of suffering within our society. Much of it is very close to home. Our families, friends, and neighbors may be hurting due to sickness, loss or any of number of reason. Some of these sufferings may be multiplied within one family. I am on a prayer team that sees requests that are heart breaking in their import. COVID, Cancer, Mental illness, Drugs, operations, heart attacks, and every other disaster you can name are hardships that devastate our families. These hardships are not respecters of status, position, good health or anything we might hold as the reason we cannot be touched. The poor are not the sole target of these calamities. Money is not a shield against the ravages of suffering and loss. There is little we can do at times and it is disheartening to have to stand by helplessly. We do have a recourse in prayer. (Proverbs 15:8, 29) Our prayers are heard even if we see no apparent answer. (Matthew 21:22) All we need do is ask and believe. (Acts 6:2-7) Prayer is often preferred by the apostles. Laying on of hands was often practiced when praying for someone. (Philippians 4:6) God is in control and wishes us to worry about nothing, but to place all of our worries, cares and desire before him in prayer. All prayer is answered in accordance to His will. Prayer sometimes persuades the Lord to respond but we must place it before Him first. He often waits for us before responding. Pray for the world, the nation, governments, the people, your friends and neighbors, and our families. Pray for all of your concerns and needs.

I am reverting to a past project for my post today. Two cards that are very appropriate for the message today. Both images were posted on April 9, 2014. 

I hope you are all well and paying attention to the guidlines for COVID. To those of you who are visiting and commenting or not commenting, Stay safe and thank you for the visit. God Bless and remember to always "Love The Details."

Gentleness

 

Saint Francis of Sales said, “I would rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Ghost is a Dove, that is, gentleness itself. And are you wiser than God?” (Shea, J. G. (1887). Pictorial Lives of the Saints (p. 68). New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: Benziger Brothers.)

I have endeavored to follow the rule of not being judgmental or critical of the world around me. It is, after all, God's creation. The path that some take is not the path I would take. I agree that God is Love, the Father of mercy, Christ the Son was a Lamb and I know the Holy Spirit is a  dove. Indeed that is gentleness in every way. If The Spirit of God is to live within us then it must be a house of gentle peace, mercy and love. Anything else has the effect of bringing turmoil and confusion. Those are dangerous roads to travel for any length of time. Being human brings with it many things but the greatest thing we have is choice. What would your choice be? 

Today I am sharing an image created some time ago. I am not sure if it was posted before but it is sitting here staring at me and it is rather lovely. I have no particulars on it so enjoy.

This is a fussy cut I will use to make a card. It will more than likely be a sympathy or special occasion card. Until next post, stay well keep safe and wear those masks. It helps all of us keep safe. Sending hugs 

, and blessings to all. Remember to always "Love The Details."

I AM

 
(Exodus 3:14) God described Himself as I AM. A very appropriate and complete description of who God says He is. Why? Because we would not understand anything else. Moses was told to tell the people (the Israelites) "I Am has sent me to you". (Exodus 6:2) He later told Moses "L am YahWeh (YHWH)". There are all sorts of descriptions of the names given to God. All are good but the one that is perfect is "I AM." If I were to describe myself it would be simply I am. Who I am now is whom I have become from a moment ago. Who I am now will not be the same as the person I am becoming. Therefore, I am. The important thing to remember is that Jesus (I AM) lives within. He wraps my soul and spirit so that even if this mortal body is destroyed my spirit will live. I am not indestructible but the soul within is when the great "I Am" is my keeper. Jesus is the great "I AM". He is one with God. We are learning to be one with him through Christ.

My friend EM in England sent me a die that I cut out and put together a fun little project. Here is the description from package it came in. Unfortunately Docraft's site has been closed by the company that bought them out. I am unable to find this kit on the new site. Everything Art and Craft left a notice that you can explore if you wish. There are references to their web site.

Yup! A penguin die set. It had to be colored before it was assembled. It was a fun challenge to put together. None of the pieces wanted to cooperate to keep shape. When the last of the pieces was added it was easier to keep its shape. Then it wanted to fall over all of the time. 😄 So  a small square of cardstock glued to the feet finally solved that issue. This is the result.

Only the fish and the square piece of card stock were glued. The rest was just slipped together. Cool and cute. Hope this was a smiley face for you today. I will share a bit of my past art work with you next week. Until then, stay safe, wear your masks and remember to always "Love The Details."

Thank You

Have you ever wondered why prayer seldom seems to be answered? Has it ever occurred to you that prayer that is always asking for something is counter productive? Is it possible that we are seen as complainers, greedy or just plain ungrateful. Are we thankful for our existence in this world? (Psalm 118:24) This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it. In other words say a prayer of thanks often and rejoice in the love of the Lord. There will always be things to offer up for Him to take care of but always be mindful of the life we are given. Praise and singing, even if it does sound like a bellowing bull moose, are pleasing to Him. He is not a vending machine in the sky or a sugar daddy. Give thanks more often than anything. Remember where we've come from since He is the one created us and that brought us this far. Rejoice every day not just Sunday. 

Every so often I like to include a celestial image to show the wonder of our awesome God's creation. This post seems the perfect place to do that. Here are a few beautiful images that inspire and awe.

hubble space telescope - Ring Galaxy

Arp 148 is the staggering aftermath of an encounter between two galaxies, resulting in a ring-shaped galaxy and a long-tailed companion

ESO 593-8 is an impressive pair of interacting galaxies.

infant_stars_1017_500. Two infant star clusters born in the dust and gas cloud behind them. Notice also the much more distant galaxies in this image. There are quite a few of them. Some are oval some are round and a few look like streaks. Stars in the image that are close have four spikes. The more distant ones are just pin points. Awesome. 

Hope you like the images. Remember to stay safe and "Love The Details." God bless. 

A Time For Failure

 

Webster's dictionary defines failure; 

  fail•ure \ˈfāl-yər\ noun

[alteration of earlier failer, from Anglo-French, from Old French faillir to fail] 1643

    1      a: omission of occurrence or performance specifically: a failing to perform a duty or expected action 〈failure to pay the rent on time〉

      b      (1): a state of inability to perform a normal function 〈kidney failure〉—compare HEART FAILURE

      (2): an abrupt cessation of normal functioning 〈a power failure〉

    c: a fracturing or giving way under stress 〈structural failure〉

    2      a: lack of success

    b: a failing in business: BANKRUPTCY

    3      a: a falling short: DEFICIENCY 〈a crop failure〉

    b: DETERIORATION, DECAY

  4:      one that has failed

Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

The passage through life is not without a failure no matter the definition. Webster defines the human kind that relates to normal life. Those are the times when a lesson is at hand to be remembered. It is not a time to quit or give up. Scripture is full of failures of one sort or another. These are the spiritual kind. They are also of the human kind but with farther reaching consequences. Webster defines the living failures and scripture defines the spiritual failures. The living failures are no more when we pass away. Few will remember us or our shortcomings when we are gone and our memory has faded from those that are living. Our spiritual failings are not that way. Why? That should be obvious. The spiritual is eternal and forever. If we fail to abide in Christ, (2 Peter 3:17), To believe in Him (Hebrews 3:12), To honor Him (Romans 2:23), To fear Him (Luke 23:39-40), To love Him (1 Corinthians 16:22), To obey Him (2 Kings 17:14-20), To remember Him (Isaiah 17:10), To seek Him (119:155), To serve Him (Romans 1:22-25), To trust Him (Matthew 17:17-20) are but  a few examples. The thing to remember is that our God is a loving God. He is greater than any father we can imagine. When we turn to Him, we do so in the knowledge that He never fails his people. (Psalm 89:28, Isaiah 51:6, Lamentations 3:22-23, Romans 9:6) We are truly blessed to be counted amongst His flock.

(I wish to acknowledge the reference data base that I use to write these blogs. It was formerly named Libronix and then Logos. There are several versions of the software but I use the Verbum version. My references are varied and diverse. They include over 20 bible versions, tons of reference works including concordances, commentaries and guides. Give them a look. I gain nothing monetary from this. I just think it is a great electronic resource. I have used it for many years)

Today I am sharing the first inlaid star card face I did. It is now a card. I am disappointed in how it photographed. It was a bit more difficult to create than expected. Still not bad though. I decided to do a round step card. 

The face of the card is not even around the edge from the edge center to the top because of the fold but it will have to do.

 This is the card opened. The sentiment looks warped for some reason. Probably because the sentiment is holding it open. The sentiment is by Stampendous.

The back of the card has silver glitter paper added so it will lay flat when closed. I need to do some refining when I do the next one. 

That is it for this time around. Stay safe and remember to "Always Love The Details." God bless.

Fear

 I have noticed that there are many more views than Comments so I am temporarily making the comment section available to all who wish to comment. No sales, advertisements or bad language will be tolerated and will be deleted. The comments will be posted after they have been moderated.

The bible begins with a creation of something out of love. The end product was man and woman. Their place of residence was Eden. As long as their hearts were on the Lord of lords there were no fears. The word of God sustained them and provided all they needed. The Brainy Quote is simple but profound. A baby is not born with fear but learns it when it comes into this world. We cannot avoid it in this life but we can overcome it. That is not to say it will no longer exist, only that it will not be the ruling factor of our actions, thus our lives. Fear is actually akin to love. (Psalms 111:10) Fear can be a pairing with love. (Psalm 23) I see fear of God not as a punishment but as a safeguard for "God is Love." (1 John 4:8-9, 1 John 4:16, DEUT 7:9) The fear we have of God is not fear of punishment as much as fear of His turning His love from us. As long as we walk the path He sets before us we need not fear. Pure fear and terror is not of God for God is love.

Today I am sharing the final inlayed die cut. It is a variation on the one shared in the last post. 

 

Again it has 262 inlays. The colors used were light gold, silver, white, dark blue and red. The red template was an experiment. Not sure I would use that color again for this kind of work. A darker color seems to work better. In my next post I will share a fun die cut. No hints. Stop by for a smile. Remember to always "Love The Details".