Sacrifice - Isaiah 53

Webster's defines sacrifice as the "destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else; something given up or lost." Every day people sacrifice something for the sake of something or someone else. One might sacrifice time with family for the sake of a job. Another may sacrifice much for the comfort of others or a particular religious conviction. A familiar example would be parents. Parents sacrifice their time, energy, and efforts for the sake of their children. No doubt most, if not all, parents would even sacrifice their own lives for the safety or life of their children.

However, would any of us sacrifice our own innocent children for the sake of a criminal? This is what God did for sinners. He allowed His perfect child, Jesus, to be scarified for the sake of His people. Isaiah 53 calls Christ, "a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief." Verses 4-5 states, "Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, giving up His life for the lives of those He loved.

A hymn recently sung in church offers wonderful praise for Christ's gift of the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life:

Once the world's Redeemer, dying, bore our sins upon the tree;

On that sacrifice relaying, now I look in hope to thee.

Father, take me, all forgiving, Fold me to thy loving breast;

In thy love forever living, I must be forever blest.

Please feel free to share something you've created based on this week's theme of sacrifice. You may want to focus on someone who has sacrified for you; your parents, family members, or friends, all of these given to you as a blessing from God. Or perhaps you'd like to focus your effort solely on Christ's work on the cross. Whatever you prefer, please leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery. It would be a tremendous blessing for you to share your work with us!

Thank you for your continued support of our challenge blog. We treasure each and every comment and work! Stay tuned for news of our new design team, being announced in the next week!

Hazel
Kim
Lythan
Ruth

Esther

Christian discipleship

This time is my (Hazel's) choice of topic.

Our theme is

Discipleship

Jesus’ disciples were called by Him and became His followers. Jesus final command to them ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:19-20)

When we become Christians we are not only saved by His grace, but also become Christ’s followers, to learn of Him to seek to live a life that reflects obedience. In John 15, Jesus said that His disciples should bear much fruit and show love one for the other. This may seem a tough call, but in Galatians 5 Paul talks of the fruit of the Spirit, so it is in His power that we can bear fruit and become more like our Saviour who we follow. Christian discipleship involves following Christ and learning from Him – a lifetime’s journey. If you look to the right, you will see that as part of the SALT team each of us wishes to know Jesus more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly, each and every day.

As usual, we would love to see your artwork on some aspect of discipleship. Please leave us a comment with a link to where we can come and see it.

Our Design Team call is still open until 15 February - details are here.

Hazel


Esther

Kim

Ruth

Lythan

Lord have MERCY

I (Esther) have been reading through the book of Judges recently, and have been struck by the way God is so merciful to his people despite their continued sin. The people of Isreal; time after time turned away from God and turned back to their old waya of sinning- does tha remind you of anyone? Yet despite their actions God still showed MERCY!

So this weeks topic is:

MERCY

God remains merciful to his people in so many ways. Show us how you depict this topic in your artwork and please post a link so we can share with one another.

Esther

Hazel
Kim

Ruth


Lythan

SELF CONTROL and DESIGN TEAM call

Hello there, it's my (Ruth) turn this week.

When I was setting the theme a few weeks ago I was realising how little patience I can have with those nearest to me. It is frustrating that in some areas of my life I can be very `on top' of things, yet in others seem to lack SELF CONTROL. This is serious, as one of the fruits of the spirit - the outworking of LOVE - is SELF CONTROL.

So as I have been meditating on this theme I've been thinking about what helps me control my reactions when under preassure, my tongue and my body. Ultimately a closer walk with the Lord and a life led by LOVE and HOPE in Christ will help me be more SELF CONTROLLED.
As always I am humbled that I alone can not achieve this. It is only because of what Jesus did for me on the cross and the righteousness HE gives that enables me to even start on the road of renewal.

Thank you for reading, please enjoy the contributions of the rest of the SALT team, and lookout for information about become a Salt team member after the pictures.

Ruth

Hazel

Kim Esther
Lythan

Become a SALTine!

SALT is a faith-based challenge blog comprised of a diverse group of
card makers, scrappers and altered art fans from across the world who
have been brought together through our love of Jesus Christ and our
desire to express our faith in creative ways. We're currently
looking for like-minded designers to join our team!

Although our backgrounds and denominations are different, as a group
we hold to the following doctrines:

1) Faith in one God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
2) That the Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testaments, is the
supreme authority for the faith and conduct of God's people
3) The essential deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless
life, His substitutionary death, and His physical resurrection
4) That through Christ's work on the cross, the forgiveness of sins,
reconciliation to God, and eternal life is offered to all
5) That God commands all people to repent and to believe the gospel

Our goal on the SALT blog is to proclaim the good news of Christ to
the lost and to encourage believers to know Jesus more clearly; love
him more dearly; and follow him more nearly, each and every day. If
you are a crafting Christian, who agrees with the above doctrinal
statements, and would like to be considered for the design team,
please submit three digital photos (please be sure the files are
small enough to be emailed) of your work, any medium is fine, along
with your name, location, blog address, and a brief bio and personal
testimony of faith to Kim Schofield at ksdm@comcast. net by February
15, 2009. (This date OK??)

Design team responsibilities:
1. Term – At this time we do not have a beginning and end time for
the team. The current team has been in place for over a year. The
understanding is that you would sign up for as long as you are able
to effectively participate in the challenges. You will be free to
leave the team at any time.
2. Format – Based on a rotating schedule, design team members will
take turns posting a challenge (for example, "hope" or "God is good")
to the team via our Yahoo message board. The entire team will then
create projects based upon that topic.
3. Design work – You should be able to complete a card, scrapbook
page, or altered project once every other week. You will also be
required to write a short blurb about your topic and provide
supporting scripture text.
4. Blog – Familiarity with Blogger is a plus as you'll need to be
able to format and post your work and blurb independently.

Our friendships developed through the SALT blog have been a
tremendous blessing and we look forward to getting to know you and
reviewing your work and application. Please browse through our
design team's work on the SALT blog and forward any questions you may
have to Kim Schofield at ksdm@comcast. net.

Happy New Year

We just wanted to say Happy New Year to all our readers.

May you know the Peace of God this New Year.

We've all had a busy holiday season, so have decided not to have a challenge this week, but postpone it to next week.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming design team call, more information to come soon!

In the mean time, please keep spreading THE GOOD NEWS and keep telling people about SALT!

O Holy Night

it is almost here.
the most wonderful time of the year.
not just because of the presents and the food and the family time - fun though they are.
but because, on this most holy of nights, God comes to us as one of us.
Amazing love.

Here are the team's thoughts on the challenge.
We would ask for prayers for Kim S and her family and her area. Due to bad weather and power cuts, there are two families staying with them at the moment and the ice storms have not abated.

We pray that all of you have a blessed Christmas!

Lythan
Hazel






Kim

Esther

Ruth

Kimberly

God is Good

What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living! Psalm 27:3 AMP

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:8-9 AMP

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10:10 AMP

The foundation of my belief in God is that He is Good and that He loves me. When I discovered John 10:10 in the Bible, I realized that it isn’t God who causes all the bad things in the world, but that He wants to give us a good, abundant life. Gloria Copeland in her book Blessed beyond Measure says “God is absolutely just and righteous. Remember that. God is always right! If things are not working, if things are not good – it’s not His fault. He’s not being hard hearted. He’s not failing to listen or being unfaithful to you. God has never withheld good from people who would obey Him. He has always desired to abundantly bless His people. That is why He gives us His Word – so we can receive it, do it, and be blessed.” That is not to say that bad things will never happen to us if we believe God’s word, but it is important to realize that it is not God who has inflicted these troubles upon us. He will always do what is best for us and will help us through troubled times and gives us just as He promised - a good, abundant life.

Thank you for joining us this week as we celebrate the extraordinary goodness of our God. Kimberly White

Kimberly

Kim

Hazel
Lythan
Ruth
Esther