Flawed Yet Forgiven!

I want to share a couple of photos with you before I start my Behind Those Eyes post.

My hubby Mark and I were blessed with tickets to this past weekends NASCAR races! Yipee!! We have been NASCAR fans since before it was cool! Thank you to Mark's boss!

Before my 50th birthday I would never have gotten in this car (too embarrassing, I suppose), but here I am in a car that Dale Earnhardt actually drove ~ I even sat on the same seat.

I have never worn a hat in public ~ but now that I am 50 ~ and God has done such an amazing work in my heart over the past few weeks ~ I figured it would be ok.

We had such a great time ~ I just wanted to share.

Now for my Behind Those Eyes post. I cannot believe we are already on Chapter 9, We Are Completely Flawed Yet Forgiven Completely, and we only have one week to go. It has been a challenging yet rewarding study and I am thankful to Lisa Whittle for writing this wonderful book and to Lelia at WriteFromTheHeart for hosting this study. I know I am not the same person who first picked up this book in mid-September.

Completely flawed ~ yep ~ no denying that! All of the MS. that have been shared in this book are only cover-ups for the real deal ~ a sin-filled nature. Taking the mask or armor or concealer off has only revealed the truth and we all know that scripture tells us that the truth will set us free! Thank God ~ I am free!

Freedom does not mean that I do not sin any longer ~ on the contrary. Often times I feel as though I sin more now than I used to. I believe that is, in part, because I am more fully aware of God's character and how He is trying to change me.

I am so much like Paul. Lisa shares scripture from Romans 7 with us when Paul speaks about his desire to do good and right things but finds himself making wrong choices. I do that all the time. It's kind of like: I'm definitely going to start my diet on Monday then all of a sudden it's Thursday and I say: Oh well, I'll start next Monday when I know God has spoken to my heart about my body being His Temple and the need to take care of it. I want to yet I don't.

Yes, I am completely flawed. But thank God (literally) the story doesn't end there.

I am forgiven completely!

In 1997 God took me on an incredible 8 month journey. My husband took a temporary job transfer to Wyoming. While he was away working during the week and the kids were doing their thing, I had many hours to spend with God. He taught me lessons in forgiveness that I never dreamed possible. During those months he cleaned my heart of bitterness, anger and unforgiveness toward my dad. It was a long process but one I will never forget.

The wonderful thing about learning to forgive my dad is that I came to a new depth of understanding about how God forgives us through the blood of Jesus.

Lisa uses one of my favorite scriptures on the subject: Psalms 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." To me that means, no matter how many times the enemy may try to put those sins back on me, he can't because they truly can never catch up to me again. They are gone, never to be found again, and never to be remembered by God.

Lisa's challenge question: In your heart of hearts, do you think God is ready and willing to forgive you? Honestly...will you let Him?

I can honestly say, though I don't deserve one moment of it, His grace and mercy have overcome my unworthiness and YES! He is ready, I have let Him and I am forever Thankful!!

What about you? Ask yourself the same question. Will you let Him?

Considering It All Joy, Cindy