Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before him.
In love he predestined us for adoption
to himself as sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace,
with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:3-6
Doesn't
this passage just knock your socks of with pure astonishment and make
you want to jump up in praise!? It does me, every time I read it. To
contemplate what it really means for us is astounding. I love the way it
begins...PRAISE. It could end there with only two lines and it would
still be worthy of our praise. But it goes on to showcase God's
extravagant love for us.
To
think that I was in His heart and in His plan before He even created
the universe staggers me. I was like a long-awaited child to Him. That
fact alone makes me feel so connected to all my spiritual siblings, my
brothers and sisters of faith going back to those first patriarchs who
called upon the name of our God. I sit in a cosmos that envelopes a
family of faith...and I'm such an important part that God bestows upon
me all the spiritual blessings of heaven. He knew me before I was
conceived. He knew what my life, days, moments would be. He knew my
heart before it started beating. He knew the love and passion I would
have for who He is, for His Word. He knew I would choose Him; He knew I
would fall to my knees the moment the scales of darkness and lies would
drop to the floor and I would bask in His Light and absorb His Truth.
He knew I would run to Him and ask to be cradled in His arms. He knew
that look I would have in my eyes as I searched the heavens to hear Him
say, "You are Mine!"
And
the really amazing thing? He has done the same for every believing
heart on this planet. He draws us into an eternal circle of connection
and under His starry sanctuary He hold us close. We are not perfect
children and He has to discipline us from time to time. He has to grow
us, mature us and let us sit in the refiner's fire. But what loving
parent doesn't spend time polishing their child? He was Jesus to shine
forth through us, so every facet of our diamond-in-the-rough faith and
character much be chiseled to perfection. He is adorning me as part of
the Bride, preparing me to live forever with the Beloved. Meanwhile
every spiritual blessing is mine...salvation, transformation,
sanctification, strength, power, wisdom, grace....the list is endless
because the gifts come from heaven's treasure trove! 
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Design Detail: The background is a thin acrylic scraping. I created the stars and moon on this page by painting a heavy body white acrylic paint through a stencil that I have. I outlined those with a fine Prismacolor pen. The girl, banner, tab and concentric star pieces are from the printable, Starry Sanctuary, perhaps my most favorite printable so far. It holds deep meaning for me. Don't forget that the printable comes with both color and outline digital images so you can entirely change the color scheme. I put white acrylic paint on a grid stamp for the additional white accents (clean your stamp immediately if you do that!!!)
Starry Sanctuary by Diane Noble
$7.99
4 PDF Pages include
- 3 pages of ready-to-print, colored images and sentiments
- Scripture verses for Bible journaling inspiration (coordinate with images)
- 1 page devotion based on theme
- Personal Bible study questions and prompts
Digital Image Package includes
- 58 precolored images in both JPEG and PNG formats
- 17 outline images in both JPEG and PNG formats
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