Faith Sisters: His Holy Name {Challenge 1}

Can you believe our first week is finally here? I am SO excited!!! Welcome to all of you, and I pray that you will enjoy your time of study and your time creating. Before beginning, if you haven't read the instructions/FAQ I sent out yesterday, you may want to glance at it. It may be helpful to some of you. You can find that post here.

Just a few more notes before we start:
**You may join at anytime throughout the year. This is for you. Do what you can and don't stress if you miss a week here and there.
**Use any Bible version that you are comfortable with as you choose your scriptures for each challenge.
**A great sight to find scripture searching on a keyword is Biblegateway! It also has many, many versions too.
**Remember to use Keyword HHN09 when posting to online galleries. It will be easier to search and find each others creations that way.

Let's get started!

Challenge Word 1: Holy
God’s Attribute: Webster’s defines holy as “belonging to or coming from God; spiritually perfect or pure; sinless; deserving deep respect, awe, reverence or adoration.” God is Holy, and because He is Holy, He must punish sin. He is our standard of holiness. He is set above and apart from the world He has created. He is perfect, without sin, or evil thought.

The book of Isaiah speaks a lot about God’s Holiness. In Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8, we see the word holy repeated three times--"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty." The Hebrews repeat words to emphasize something. So, as we read these verses, we understand that the Lord has the ultimate Holiness.

How does this affect my daily life? Believers are called to be holy. That does not mean that we are to have a “holier than though” attitude. It means we are to become more Christ-like through the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is gained as a process in our walk with our precious Lord. Out of love for Him, do you desire holiness? Ann Spangler said “. . . holiness involves separating myself, not from a world of sinful people, but from the sinful attitudes and patterns so prevalent in my own life.” Oh such a great reminder.

And because He is Holy, He has a purpose for my life and your life. How do you respond to His call or purpose for your life? Do you go about daily life on your own or do you seek His will? Jean Nystrand, Executive Director of Bible Study Fellowship, said “Those who glimpse God’s Holiness and experience His cleansing are willing to answer His call. What is my response to His Holiness and His call on my life?” What a great question to think about and pray about!

Before I share my first page, I must tell you, it has been hard to go from the ATCs to a 6x6 page. That being said, I know I am going to love my album just as much as my 7Gypsies ATC holder when I am done at the end of 2009! Also, last year, I did not date my cards. This year, I am going to date each page with the date of the challenge.

For my page, I used Teresa Collins and Collage Press papers and Sketch 36 from my sketch blog Triple the Sketch. I then used my very own stamp design that you can find in the Unity kit Friendship Love Miracles or as the Unity single Almighty God. Now the single is a bit larger than the one in the kit. I have both, and I love and use both sizes. You will probably see me use my stamp a lot this year since it is so applicable to what we are studying! And the butterfly stamp is from the Unity kit Floral Fantastical.

The verses I chose for this challenge are:
1Peter 1:15-16 "But just as He who called you is Holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written 'Be holy, because I am Holy.'"
Leviticus 20:8 "Keep my decrees, and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy."

I pray that you enjoy your study over the next two weeks! Blessings to each of you!