Friday, November 4, 2011

Of Marriage and Weddings. . .

May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance. 
 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Weddings are always such a special time and a sweet remembrance and symbol of the Lord's love for His bride, the church. As John Piper wrote in This Momentary Marriage, "The meaning of marriage is the display of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people."

Oh, that we would honor Him in our marriages; that we would be faithful, loving, submissive, respecting self-sacrificing and that we strive to live together as the Lord has called us to live until death do us part. So often, it seems that the focus these days is on THE WEDDING, while the marriage is secondary. I'm not so sure that's what we see in the Bible. Rather we see the focus on THE MARRIAGE and the wedding being the door to that blessed covenant of companionship that the Lord established at creation.  May He give us grace to honor Him!

PROJECT DETAILS. . .This gift set was prepared for a sweet sister whose bridal shower was held recently. The little black coaster set is one where you can put a photo behind the glass. At the last minute, I decided the red stock inserts were not very complimentary, so prepared four inserts with various scripture verses, stamped over the beautiful stencil from Layers of Color. The paper, flower and swirls on the card were a result of my first trip to our new Hobby Lobby store. . .what a blessing. I love being able to shop for my supplies at a store that is operated on biblical principles and that sponsors advertising at all of the major holidays sharing the Gospel: the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ! The lace was a gift/giveaway from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings.

Supply List
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs, Layers of Color, Verve
Card Stock: SU Basic Black and Very Vanilla
Designer Paper: The Paper Studio Vintage Black Toile and Damask
Ink: Memento Black, Versamark, SU Sahara Sand
Accessories: Vintage Lace (from Little Birdie Blessings) Prima swirls and crochet trimmed flower, Marcasite embossing powder, SU Tulip Frame embossing folder and crochet trim ribbon, plastic candy bag, Spellbinders Labels 17 dies; Layers of Color Botanical Swirls Stencil; Target gift card.
Challenges:
This has come to be one of my more recent favorite scriptures as it reminds me that God's love is conditional. . .conditioned upon the perfect work of Jesus Christ! It reminds me that for the joy set before Him, He (Jesus) endured the cross and is even now, seated at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2) interceding for His people. 

May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance. 
 2 Thessalonians 3:5

It is a prayer for spiritual blessings. Two things of the greatest importance the apostle prays for:—1. That their hearts may be brought into the love of God, to be in love with God as the most excellent and amiable Being, the best of all beings; and this is not only most reasonable and necessary in order to our happiness, but is our happiness itself; it is a great part of the happiness of heaven itself, where this love shall be made perfect. We can never attain to this unless God by his grace direct our hearts aright, for our love is apt to go astray after other things. Note, We sustain a great deal of damage by misplacing our affections; it is our sin and our misery that we place our affections upon wrong objects. If God directs our love aright upon himself, the rest of the affections will thereby be rectified. 2. That a patient waiting for Christ may be joined with this love of God. There is no true love of God without faith in Jesus Christ. We must wait for Christ, which supposes our faith in him, that we believe he came once in flesh and will come again in glory: and we must expect this second coming of Christ, and be careful to get ready for it; there must be a patient waiting, enduring with courage and constancy all that we may meet with in the mean time: and we have need of patience, and need of divine grace to exercise Christian patience, the patience of Christ (as some read the word), patience for Christ’s sake and after Christ’s example.                            ~Matthew Henry

Blessings! jme ~ SDG

12 comments:

  1. Jan, your project is stunning and beautifully presented. I'm sure it will be a blessing to the couple that receives it. Good reminders here on marriage. Glad to see you're making good use of the lace. Thanks so much for linking up to Scripture Thursday. ~ Abby

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  2. Oh, Jan Marie! I always receive such blessings when I visit your blog! One from the beauty of your project, and one from the beauty of the Word! Thank you so much!...Nancy :o)

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  3. This is absolutely stunning, Jan Marie! I absolutely LOVE the monochromatic color scheme and all the detail and bling. Gorgeous--a true work of art!!! :)

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  4. WOW!!! What a stunning project and I love the idea of Scriptures in the coasters instead of pictures!

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  5. Oh, how beautiful! Lovely presentation. So romantic... love the Victorian look to it. The pearls and lace look gorgoeus... the verse is just perfect for the occation. Thank you for playing along with us at The Sweet Stop this week. :o)

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  6. WOW!! What a gorgeous and elegant card. Thank you so much for joining us this week at The Sweet Stop!!

    Hugs,
    Wendy

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  7. Oh Jan Marie!! What a gorgeous and perfect wedding card!! I just love the verse you chose and all the elegant details you added. Beautiful.
    blessings,
    Chris

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  8. What a stunning and perfect card. Absolutely beautiful!

    Have a great day!

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  9. WOW!!! This is absolutely STUNNING! Thanks for playing along in the Sweet Stop Sketch! Have a great day!!!

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  10. Gasp...stunningly beautiful in every way! You are a tremendous blessing and reflection of Him :0)

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  11. Jan Marie, this is stunning! Beautiful ensemble and design! Wonderful scripture choice1 Beautifully done! Thanks so much for playing ODBD Stamping In Time!

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  12. How did I never know that you have a blog?!?! What fun to find it through your Pinterest! I absolutely adore this card -- I fully intend to frame it, once I find a suitable frame. Thank you so much!

    Loving your blog!

    XO ~ Jenna

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Thanks for your encouraging words! Have a blessed day!