Glory {Art} Scripture Challenge #21, His Gift and His Love

The Study

Several times this week, God has given me the opportunity to share about Christ's love and His gift to us. And then on Christmas Eve, the service was about His gift and His love. We know there are never any coincidences so it was a confirmation to me that what I had already written and created was exactly what we are to be talking about today. 

First, let me start by saying it has been a very rough 2015 for our family. But each day has still been a gift and a time of thanking Him and knowing that His love for us is immeasurable. Just this week, we found out my daughter now needs open heart surgery. As we were driving home from Duke on Tuesday, we heard this song (click here to listen to it)—"Beautiful Life" by 7eventh Time Down. Here are part of the lyrics:

"It's a beautiful life

Gotta open my eyes
Take it day at a time
Don't let a moment pass by
It goes so fast I'm realizing
Each day is a gift that's given
Slow it all down
So I don't miss a thing
God's got something for me
In this beautiful life

I know we all have days
When heaven feels so far away
Right now would You help me see
One glimpse of what You’re doing?
In the middle of the chaos I take a breath
Thank God For all He's done for me"

Our lives, no matter how difficult, are a precious gift from God. Each day we have here on this earth is a gift. He has a purpose for every life He creates and everything He does.

Lamentations 3:22-23 "Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

God loves us when things are going great, and He loves us when things are difficult. God created the world. He created everything in and around this world. And He loves us so much that His biggest gift to us was His Son. He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to earth to live and suffer just as we do. But the difference is that Jesus went to the cross to die for you and for me so that we might live eternally with Him. He loves us that much that He wants us to be with Him forever!

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

His gift to us shows us that His love:

His love for us is priceless!

Psalm 36:7 "How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of Your wings."

His love endures forever!

Psalm 136:2 "Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever."

His love never falls short. He is completely dependable!

Psalm 115:1 (NLT) "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name goes all the glory for Your unfailing love and faithfulness."

He doesn't love us because we are loveable or deserve His love!

1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

He Loves Us Through Any Situation!

Psalm 138:8 (NLT) "The Lord will work out His plans for my life— for Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for You made me."

Nothing Can Separate Us From His Love!

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us." —C.S. Lewis

The Art

I chose to do a Journaling Bible page using Psalm 36:7. I just love, love, love this verse. It tells me that not only is His love for me priceless but it is unfailing. It also tells me that during these storms in our family, I can take refuge in the shadow of His wings. He will take care of my family through eternity. What a gift that I need to thank Him for and remember and lean on daily!

The little butterflies on this page are from the 7Gypsies stamp called "Bird Watching." There are lots of great images on this stamp that can be cut out so it makes the stamp very versatile.

The paints are Tattered Angels High Impact paints. I used hot pink, aqua, and lime green. It is an opaque paint; however, with a bit of water, I was able to use them as a translucent paint. You can see where I painted over the Canvas Corp Black and White Live, Love, Laugh cardstock (the word 'love' above). Also you can see where I painted the tissue paper below but you can still see the original writing on the tissue paper. I used this painted tissue paper to stamp the butterflies, flowers, and words 'priceless' and 'unfailing'. Note that the photo below is not true to the original colors. We had many storms when I took this photo, and I could not get a decent photo. The true colors are, however, on the above Journaling Bible page. 

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies and art tips, please see this post here. Also continue to watch my blog for the 2016 study. Invite your friends and family to join along!

So, I pray you will start each day with a grateful heart knowing that He loves you immensely. Will you thank Him today for His gift of love to you?

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