Friday, October 28, 2011

Faith Blog Hop - Whom Shall I Fear?

Welcome to another blessed Faith Blog Hop. This month we are focusing on the theme of Fear and we pray you find hope in the midst of any fear you may be experiencing. Join us as we showcase the talent the Lord has given us through projects that reflect what we know about God. The hop begins over at My Paper Tree House, so if you just happened to find this blog, make sure to go on over there first. If you came from Carolyn's blog, you are in the right place! Know that we are praying for you!
Before we can ask the question: "Whom shall I fear?", we must first define the word FEAR. According to www.dictionary.com, Fear is "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc. " It is interesting, though, that the original Webster's Dictionary (1828) defines fear as the following: 1. To feel a painful apprehension of some impending evil; to be afraid of; to consider or expect with emotions of alarm or solicitude. We fear the approach of an enemy or of a storm. We have reason to fear the punishment of our sins. When you contrast the end of the definition provided, you can tell that the reasons behind our fears have changed. With that change has come great compromise and a HUGE loss of the reality of the greatest thing we should fear... GOD! You see, we fear losing our jobs, our children, our homes... We fear the dark, or changes that come our way... We fear thieves, and guns, and accidents; yet we refuse to fear the Lord. The Bible says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. I always wondered why this was true, until I came across the following verse:"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28) God is the ONLY ONE who can destroy both your body and your soul! What a scary thought!In both definitions it is clear that fear comes from an expectancy of danger, pain, or evil. All of the threats that we face on earth can potentially take our physical lives away, but they have absolutely no power over what will happen with our souls. Interestingly enough, more people are afraid of speaking in public than they are of dying... and the truth is that to die apart from Christ would bring destruction to both body and soul. How is it that we do not FEAR this reality? The enemy has done a great job at making some believe that apart from God we CAN do ALL things. With others, He makes them feel so desperate and broken, that their hope and trust in the reality of God is stolen from their hearts, which leaves them with a bigger fear: the Lord is NOT big enough... Which lie have you believed? Do you feel you are so able to do ALL things that the need to fear God has not been a true need? Or, do you feel so far away from God, that your fear is now based on your belief that God will never be able to pull you out of the mess you are experiencing? Whichever your position, look at Matthew 10:28, consider your life and answer in an honest way: "Whom Shall I FEAR?"

For my project I chose to do a simple card. I have not been able to completely get into the vintage look, but I found that for some reason, talking about the Lord and his wonderful love and grace, that it was deserving of me to try. It just seemed appropriate to me for some reason. It's amazing how we all know God is a God of love, yet it may be confusing to some how we should fear him. The fear we need to have for him is not that of a bad nature, but one of obedience and respect. We are humans and we make mistakes. But he can pull us out of anything that we are going through, whether it's a situation or just the mere fact that we find ourselves distancing ourselves from him. I would never want to jeopardize my trust in him to a point that it will pull me away from him. When I find myself in situations as suck and that of fear, I pray and just ask God to take over. This is the whole reason why he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. To carry our burdens, so that we wouldn't have to. I will not be weary of things that I know that he can handle for me. I will trust in him.


I used  KinderStampO's vintage letter charms and Art philosophy cartridge for the flowers.  The lace and pearl strings were a gift from my sweet friend Tanya.  The rest was just some pearls and stickers I had at home.


Now for some blog candy! To qualify for this giveaway, please leave a comment below.  For an extra chance to win, sign up for my email newsletter and let me you know did in a separate post. I love your comments, but blog candy must stay in the U.S. Here's what you can win:





Thanks for stopping by. For your next stop you have to hop on over to Dolores' blog.

23 comments:

Marjolaine said...

Beautiful card and encouraging words!

Dolores said...

Zeny I love your card, thank you for remind us that God is a God of love.

Vicki said...

Your card turned out very nice..I appreciate that you distinguished between the negative fear and the respectful fear. God will not be mocked and those who are blatant before the Lord with their evil ways are the ones that will pay that dear price.

transport7800@aol.com
http://mawmawsthoughts.blogspot.com
follower

Scraping Miami said...

What a great project and the letters are so nice

Rosie said...

What a beautiful card!!!

love the letter

rosiemini@gmail.com
www.scraplovingminis.blogspot.com

lindaplus3 said...

Your words were beautiful... food for thought for sure :) lindaplusthree at yahoo dot com

lindaplus3 said...

I also signed up for email newsletter :) lindaplusthree at yahoo dot com

abusybee - DoubleClick Connections said...

Beautiful post, and your card is amazing! Great details!
Carri~abusybee
www.doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com

Lovebug Creations said...

Beautiful card Zeni! I love it! And look at you rockin' the vintage! So proud! ;)

Tanya said...

Your card is gorgeous and your words.. powerful. Definitely alot to think about.

Hugs,
Tanya

Imogene said...

Your card is so beautiful!!!

Becky Dunham said...

This is gorgeous Zeni! I would frame it if I were you. Such a gorgeous reminder to be seen every day on my wall. Thanks for your sweet words.

rebeccadunham at hotmail dot com

Nana Campana said...

Loved your card and the words you had to share. You are such an encouragement! HUGS!!

Nicole Brenna said...

The card is beautiful and thank you so much for sharing!

HeARTworks said...

I live in the Philippines, but just wanted to comment that I love this blog hop! So timely for "Halloween"! It is so dismaying how popular this holiday is getting even among Christians!! Patsy from
HeARTworks

Pamela Lash said...

Very inspirational, Zeni - lovely treasure! Cyber hugs!

Wendy Swenne said...

Lovely card, Zeni.
Thanks for sharing.

And God is a good God. With Him we can do all things. And He is more than able to pull us out of things and help us. Only if we are willing to let Him sit on our throne.


Wendy

Unknown said...

That is a beautiful card. Thank you too for your words.

ps...don't put me in the draw, I'm not in the US.

Scrappin' Sista said...

Zeni, your card is gorgeous. I love your vintage touch. You did a great job! Also, your words are important and struck a cord with me. You are right on point so thank you! TFS and hopping with us.

Christel
http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com

Scrappin' Sista said...

Girl...I love following you and am a faithful email subscriber.


Christel
http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

my friend! this card is beautiful! I love the vintage look of it.

Love the pattern paper you used and the distressed look of it too.

Liz

Sukie said...

Very beautiful, so touching. Great vintage look with the distressing!

scrappindhilly at gmail dot com

365 Days of Cricut said...

Wow this is stunning! This is pretty enough to hang on the wall! I love this!